This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Breaking news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
To all following this ongoing Maxim-fake-reviews saga (now starring Nas!) who suspected there might be something more devious afoot in Maxim’s editorial policy toward reviews, David Peisner, the Maxim free-lancer responsible for penning the two hypothetical reviews, agrees with you. In an exclusive statement to Soundboard, Peisner writes:
“I’m a freelance writer. I was assigned to write previews of the Black Crowes and Nas albums. I did that. 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.”
We’re currently contacting Maxim for a response to this, but Peisner’s statement might confirm what many have suspected in this whole debacle — that Maxim itself plays fast and loose with its standards towards reviewing. That said, the tone of critical assessment in these ostensible “previews” did seem to imply to readers that Peisner had at least heard the records. But Maxim assigning star ratings and including them in the Reviews section, when according to Peisner the assigning editors had asked for a different piece altogether, is nonetheless a serious misrepresentation of the writer’s access to and judgment of the albums at hand. More to come soon.
Update! Black Crowes manager Pete Angelus had this to say about Peisner’s statement, in a phone interview:
“There’s no accountability for Dave Peisner, editor James Kaminsky or Maxim magazine. They issued a partial apology to their readership, but no apology directly to the artist whose work they denigrated without having heard more than one song, while attempting to pass it off as an album review. I think Peisner’s claim is absurd. He wrote a review of music that he never heard, he disparaged both the band and the material. He said, ‘It hasn’t left Chris Robinson and the gang much room for growth,’ and yet now he’s going to attempt to pass off his actions on Maxim? Absurd.”
We’re still trying to contact Maxim for a response to Peisner’s above allegations.
– August Brown
Photo of Chris Robinson at H.O.R.D.E. Festival (remember that?) in 1995 by Bob Carey / Los Angeles Times
[…] 29, 2008 by kcneon The LA Times broke news from the freelance writer himself that previews he had be asked to write were published […]
[…] the guy who writes the reviews is trying to blame Maxim, but no one is buying […]
who cares…..do people actually buy records based on Maxim’s reviews?
If you Google Peisner, you’ll find he’s written some smart and funny stuff, not only about music. After reading some of his other work, I’m feeling bad for the guy. This was obviously a quick paycheck gig, beneath his other material, and now it’s blown up in his face. A drag that this is what he’s being judged for — the guy’s a heck of a good writer.
^^^^
the world according to Peisner’s mom….
Who are the Black Crowes?
When the Jayson Blair scandal hit the New York Times they named names and quickly communicated to their readers how to they were going to avoid the issue in the future. People were fired or resigned. I have been an unabashed Maxim subscriber for close to 8 years. Maxim’s video game, music, and movie reviews have always been informative, fresh, and entertaining. Now I can’t trust anything in Maxim. The only way Maxim can keep me as a subscriber is if key people involved with this review scandal resign and a statement on how proper reviews in the future will be conducted is published.
[…] Jenny Lewis is making an album with Elvis Costello and Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, whom you heard from last week. We just want some CornNuts. […]
[…] in question. Going on record with the LA Times, Peisner claims his Maxim higher-ups did assig him to write previews, and he only found out they had been bumped to the reviews section when the issue hit the stands. […]