Gawker: Try Harder

How, Exactly, Maxim Faked Its Music "Reviews"

Ryan Tate — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:43:52 EST

Maxim writer David Peisner gave specifics on how his editors recently faked up reviews of two albums neither they nor Peisner had heard: deception and chicanery. Who would imagine?! Freelancer Peisner told the LA Times he agreed to write two "previews" of new albums from the Black Crowes and Nas, and handed them in. Then the editors decided to go to town:

When the issue came out, the previews were laid out as reviews complete with star ratings. I never at any point or to anyone claimed to have heard these albums in their entirety. Whatever decisions Maxim made after I turned in my work were beyond my control.

It is very, very easy to imagine an editor at Maxim, known more for its near-naked photos of young women than its editorial standards, sexing up an article well past the boundaries of evidence or writerly intent. But as the LA Times noted, Peisner's items contained stronger opinions than one would typically expect in a preview. On the Black Crowes album, for example, his article said:

Now that they're legitimately grizzled, they sound pretty much like they always have: boozy, competent and in slavish debt to the Stones, the Allmans, and the Faces.

It's entirely possible some disclaimers and context were cut away, and likely that if the piece had run in a different section, without the star ratings, there would never have been such controversy.

No matter who is at fault, everyone can now safely review the March issue of Maxim without having read it: "shitty."

(Cover shot via Style Dash)

Maxim Reviews Yet Another Album Without Listening To It

Ryan Tate — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:15:42 EST

It appears the Black Crowes are not the only musical act victimized by Maxim's "educated guess preview[s]" now that rapper Nas has come forward to say that he, too, was irked to see the magazine publish a review of the album "Nigger" when he's not even done recording it yet. Like the Black Crowes album "Warpaint," "Nigger" got a decidedly "meh" 2.5 stars out of five. Nas told Page Six: "I don't know what a music rating from Maxim is . . . I don't know what it even means really." What it means, Mr. Nas, is that you've just had the honor of appearing in the premier forum for short musical fiction. (It's past the string bikini spreads, somewhere in the back of the book near the penis enlargement ads.)

Maxim Reviews Black Crowes Album Without Listening To It

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:13:26 EST

In the March issue of Maxim, writer David Peisner reviews the new Black Crowes album, "Warpaint." The verdict: Ehhh. Two and a half stars, out of five. The problem: Maxim didn't listen to the album. Their review, it turns out, was an "educated guess." Um, what? The full story, including the faux-review and the band's outraged response, below.

The Black Crowes' label didn't make advance copies of the album available for review, so they were surprised when they saw Maxim's turn up. The writer couldn't have heard more than one song off the album, the label says. When they contacted the magazine, they say an editor emailed them:

'Of course, we always prefer to (sic) hearing music, but sometimes there are big albums that we don't want to ignore that aren't available to hear, which is what happened with the Crowes. It's either an educated guess preview or no coverage at all, so in this case we chose the former.'"

Yea, that's just not right. If you want to tell the Black Crowes they suck, at least listen to the album first, so you can be specific. Imagine a critic handing you this review without having heard your record:

The response from the band:

Then again—now, a lot more people are reading that negative review. There's two sides to the PR coin! The band better hope that its full album is strong enough to make Maxim look foolish.