BLACKsummers'night

by

Maxwell

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On this sad day, we celebrate the legacy of Michael Jackson as he is laid to rest. But on this day, we also celebrate the return of Maxwell a.k.a the keeper of the R&B flame.

What can be said about Maxwell that has NOT been said? For me (through his music) he made me believe in love and romance. He made me believe that not all young urban men are thugs (or thug wannabes). We made me believe that music can STILL inspire. It took him 8 years to return, but it has been worth the wait.

All the songs are great and intimate, but the best songs are:

Pretty Wings-love song about meeting the right person at the wrong time

Cold- rumored to be his 3rd single. This song really grooves and is very sexy.

Bad Habits- about really feeling a person to the point of addiction.

Love You- about wanting to become whatever the person you love want you to become.

Help Somebody- is one of Maxwell's first songs about helping mankind.

My last point about this album is its been a LONG time since we heard REAL instruments in music (especially in R&B). With this record, we get to hear REAL musicians....as I said earlier, we don't call Maxwell the keeper of the R&B flame for nothing.

I'm glad to see that Maxwell did well with his 1st week's sales, but a part of me doesn't feel that it's very well deserved. I'm a big fan of Maxwell's work, but this album I'm sorry to say is by far his worst. I'm digging only 3 or 4 of the measly 9, actually 8.5, songs on the album. The production is just way out of line with what I as a fan would expect from Maxwell. The lyrics are on-point but the over-all sound & vibe is just not there for me. My favorite songs on the album are "Bad Habits" and then "Pretty Wings." "Stop the World" and "Love You" are both nice. "Fist Full of Tears" is slowly growing on me.

I know that a lot of people asked this question too; "What's up with the idea of the 9, I mean 8.5 songs???" Paying for an album with just 8.5 songs on it and only 3 or 4 songs that are really good while the others are just "listenable" or ones that I could pretty much do without is really not a good look. If you are going to put out an album with so few songs they better damn-well be nothing less than Grade A!!! Half of the songs on this album are Grade C+ at best!

I really hope the rest of the Black Summer Night project is much better than this. Judging by the ratings that some people are giving the album I feel that it is once again that people are choosing to rate the artist and not the actual material on the album. I don't believe that anyone who has followed Maxwell's work can honestly say that this album is on the level of anything else he's ever done. Keeping that in mind along with the fact that all his other albums well deserved 4 and 5 stars, I wonder how/why would anyone give this album 4 or 5 stars???

Face it folks, every artist is entitled to put out a dud here & there especially when they have a track record of putting out top quality material time & time again. Joe's album "Joe Thomas, New Man" was his 1st dud IMO. This, IMO, is Maxwell's 1st and I hope his last dud! Joe bounced back with his latest album "Signature" and I truly hope/believe that Maxwell will bring something much better on his next release. I'm still a huge fan, but I really expected waaaaaaay better from Maxwell.