Eating Crowe

Maxim magazine has apologized for publishing a negative review of the Black Crowes' new album by a writer who hadn't listened to the whole CD, missing their new, prog metal direction entirely. Not.

The review in Maxim's March issue gives the Crowes' "Warpaint" a rating of two-and-a-half stars out of five. The band posted an exasperated statement on its Web site last week saying the Maxim writer hadn't heard the entire album because advance copies weren't available. The Crowes' manager, said the magazine explained that its review was an "educated guess." Well, if you don't provide albums to review to promote your band, that's what'll happen. But again, this is the Black Crowes. They and Lenny Kravitz are locked in a battle to mine the most psychedelic rock and recycle it endlessly. You could write a review to their last album and only need to change the names of the songs, and it would be spot on.

"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." Where's the apology to the listeners who'll listen to the album curiously to see if the review was merited?

A spokeswoman for the magazine declined to say whether the writer would face disciplinary action. Like having to listen to the whole album.