Crowes To Maxim: Say Sorry To The Band

NEW YORK (AP) -- Maxim has apologized to its readers, but the Black Crowes are still waiting for the magazine to say sorry to the band for publishing a negative review of their new CD without listening to the full album.

"It comes as no surprise that Maxim has elected to apologize to their readers now that the world has been informed of their deception; however, that is not full accountability," said the Crowes' manager, Pete Angelus, on Tuesday.

Maxim editorial director James Kaminsky issued a statement earlier Tuesday apologizing to readers for the review in its March issue. The writer gave the Crowes' "Warpaint" a rating of two-and-a-half stars out of five _ but hadn't actually heard the entire disc.

The mea culpa came a few days after the Crowes posted a statement on their Web site saying such a review was impossible since advance copies of the CD, out on March 4, weren't made available.

"It is Maxim's editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety," Kaminski responded. "Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologize to our readers."

Angelus said Maxim was just doing "self-serving damage control."

"The appropriate action from Maxim is to immediately issue a public apology to The Black Crowes for disparaging both the band and their soon-to-be released new album 'Warpaint' without having heard the material," he said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the magazine declined comment when contacted by The Assoicated Press on Wednesday.

"Warpaint" is the Black Crowes' first album in seven years. The blues-rock group, fronted by Chris Robinson, has released only one song from the disc, "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution."

The band's hits include "Hard to Handle" and "She Talks to Angels."