Magazine puts blame on critic who gave group a drubbing after “guessing” what unreleased album would be like

By Matthew B. Zeidman

NEW YORK (Hollywood Today) 2/26/08 – Men’s magazine “Maxim” apparently didn’t have a very high opinion of the Black Crowes’ latest album, “Warpaint,” awarding it 2.5 stars out of five in its March issue and stating that it hadn’t left the group “much room for growth.” The problem is that the CD won’t come out until March 4 and no advance copies were made available to the media, prompting the magazine to issue an apology to its readers in the wake of public criticism by the band.

The band was understandably furious. “Pete Angelus, manager of the Crowes, stated, “In my opinion, Maxim’s fabrication of an album review is highly unethical and indefensible. This issue potentially pertains to all artists and their craft, and a publication which apparently has no respect for either.”

In its apology more to its readers than the band, Maxim said “It is ‘Maxim’s’ editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety. Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine, and we apologize to our readers,” the magazine’s editorial director, James Kaminsky, said in a statement released earlier today.

Only one song from the disc was made available to the public prior to next month’s release, and according to an e-mail excerpt released by the band’s manager, Pete Angelus, the magazine admitted that the album review was an “educated guess.” Angelus did not identify the “Maxim” representative who wrote the e-mail.

The monthly magazine, best known for female celebs posing semi-nude on its cover and in interview-accompanying pictorials, is one of the few major “lad mags” remaining in the thinning American market. The U.S. versions of rival “FHM” and “Maxim” sister publication “Stuff” were recently discontinued, making more upscale men’s magazines, like “GQ,” its chief competition.