BLACKsummers'night
Encyclopedia
BLACKsummers'night is the fourth studio album
by American recording artist Maxwell
, released July 7, 2009 on Columbia Records
. It is the follow-up to his third album Now
(2001). Recording sessions for the album took place during 2007 to 2009 and production was handled entirely by Maxwell and Hod David.
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200
chart, selling 316,000 copies in its first week. It became Maxwell's fourth consecutive US platinum
album and produced four singles that achieved Billboard
chart success. Upon its release, the album received general acclaim from most music critics and earned Maxwell two Grammy Awards at the 52nd Grammy Awards
. It has sold over one million copies in the United States.
, Bowery Digital, and Platinum Sound Recording Studios in New York City
. The album was produced entirely by Maxwell and musician Hod David. BLACKsummers'night is Maxwell's first album since his hiatus after his third album, Now
(2001), and serves as the first part of his scheduled trilogy of albums.
The music of BLACKsummers'night is rooted in general soul music
, and it features a more straightforward musical structure than Maxwell's previous work such as Embrya
(1998). Maxwell's lyrics concern his falling in and out of love during his sabbatical period prior to the album's release. In an interview with Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul
, Maxwell stated "The inspiration was real life itself. You know, while I was taking time away from the industry, I came across a relationship that took me by surprise."
The album produced four singles. Its lead single "Pretty Wings" debuted at number one on the US Billboard
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart, ultimately spending 47 weeks on the chart. It also spent 18 weeks and peaked at number 33 on the Hot 100 and at number 12 on its Radio Songs component chart. The album's second single, "Bad Habits", peaked at number four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, spending 46 weeks on the chart. It peaked at number 71 on the Hot 100, at number 38 on the Radio Songs chart, and at number 16 on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The third single "Cold" spent one week at number 62 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The album's fourth single "Fistful of Tears" spent 24 weeks on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at number 11. It charted at number 94 on the Hot 100 and at number 63 on the Radio Songs chart.
chart in July 2009, with first-week sales of 316,000 copies, serving as Maxwell's highest first-week sales. It also entered at number one on Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
, and at number two on the Top Digital Albums. In its second week on the Billboard 200, it fell to number two with an additional 103,000 copies sold. In its third week, the album dropped to number three with 72,000 more copies sold. In its fourth week, the album sold 55,000 more copies at number three on the chart. By August 2009, BLACKsummers'night had sold 550,000 copies , according to Nielsen SoundScan
. Charting at number seven on the Billboard 200, the album sold 43,000 copies in its fifth week. It maintained its position at number seven in its sixth week, selling an additional 38,000 copies. It spent 42 weeks on both the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.
In Canada, the album debuted at number 25 on the Top 100
chart, spending one week on the chart. In the United Kingdom, BLACKsummers'night entered at number 66 on the UK Albums Chart
, spending one week on the chart, and at number 23 on the UK R&B Chart
. On January 19, 2010, the album was certified platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America
, following shipments in excess of one million copies in the United States. It serves as his fourth consecutive platinum-selling album and has sold more than one million copies in the United States.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 85, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Allmusic editor Andy Kellman gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and complimented its "dimensions and progress" from Maxwell's previous work. Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe
commented that he sings "with remarkable grace and subtlety" and that "the songs are focused and often lovely and the execution is crisp". Glenn Gamboa of Newsday
viewed the album as an improvement over his previous works' smooth style, stating "he's added dependable hooks to the groove, lyrical and melodic points to hold onto, rather than simply floating around in the R&B-infused atmosphere". Sputnikmusic
's Tyler Munro called it "dynamically written and produced", commending Maxwell for his "understated, quiet confidence", "versatility as a vocalist", and "the timing, variation and execution of the instruments". Mariel Concepcion of Billboard
complimented his performance and the album's "heart-pounding melodies and true-to-life love stories". Chicago Tribune
writer Greg Kot
commented that it "evokes the complex late ‘70s albums of Marvin Gaye
", and stated, "Maxwell explores his vulnerabilities and idiosyncrasies, while toughening up his sound. Darting horns and skittering bass lines frame allusive lyrics and slippery melodies". Mojo
gave the album four out of five stars and dubbed it his best since Urban Hang Suite
.
However, The Observer
s Paul Mardles gave the album three out of five stars and criticized Maxwell's "fondness for cliche
". Allison Stewart of The Washington Post
called the album "cerebral but impersonal [...] never quite breaks free of its self-imposed restraints". Entertainment Weekly
s Leah Greenblatt viewed that "his sentiments rarely transcend the boudoir — and listeners lulled by the album's unvaryingly sleek, high-gloss beats may just drift off to dreamland before they get there". Chicago Sun-Times
writer Jim DeRogatis
commented that several songs "never rise above the level of pleasant background music", but called it "gorgeously recorded, tastefully arranged and beautifully played". Slant Magazine
's Eric Henderson complimented the album's "brisk and intangible 37 minutes of grown-folks grooves" and Maxwell's "musical commitment to feminizing masculinity, or vice versa". Pitchfork Media
's David Drake found Maxwell to be "structurally ambitious, with the kind of consistent unpredictability and subversiveness of the song form, embracing the unexpected [...] its best songs balancing compositional excellence, development, and tension, with carefully designed moods that reflect or complement each work's lyrical focus". Drake viewed that it "trades the physical sensuality of his earlier work for a deep emotional resonance" and commented on Maxwell's "focus and attention to detail", stating:
Rolling Stone
writer Jody Rosen
called it "an R&B album about love, not just sex, for grown-ups who know the difference". Elysa Gardner of USA Today
wrote that "Maxwell's fluid, forthright singing leaves no doubt of his conviction". Andrew Rennie of NOW
praised Maxwell's musicianship, stating "he draws from all manner of bedroom-ready genres and amalgamates them into his own personal sound". Los Angeles Times
writer Ann Powers
found its songs structure complimentary to the album's themes, stating "the music replicates the experience of an intimate connection, its ebbs and surges, its sometimes frustrating turns". Christian John Wikane of PopMatters
stated, "With producer Hod David, Maxwell naturally integrates the horn section into the tracks, lending a live feel to the production and making it easy to imagine these songs will feel right at home in front of an audience". New York Daily News writer Jim Farber gave the album five out of five stars and compared its songs to "Van Morrison
’s more daring pieces, with background and foreground parts trading places as they go". The Village Voice
s Clover Hope perceived more concise and "existentialist" songwriting by Maxwell than on his previous work, stating "The constant with Maxwell is that he tackles the topic of love with a philosopher's eye [...] It's easy to fancy the mood of his music over its poeticism, but with BLACK, he strikes a pleasant balance that's neither boring nor overwhelming".
critics' poll. In naming it the best album of the year, Jon Pareles
of The New York Times
discussed its musical significance to R&B and soul music genres, writing:
Associated Press
named it the seventh best album of 2009. Billboard ranked it number nine on its list of the top ten albums of the year. The Boston Globes Sarah Rodman named it the fifth best album of the year, and The Washington Posts Chris Richards ranked it number one on his list of 2009's best albums. Rhapsody (online music service)
called it the 9th best album of 2009. The album also earned Maxwell two Grammy Award
s, for Best R&B Album
and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
("Pretty Wings
"), at the 52nd Grammy Awards
in 2010.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American recording artist Maxwell
Maxwell (musician)
Maxwell , is an American R&B, funk and neo soul musician. He played an important role in the development of the soul sub-genre, neo-soul.-Early life:...
, released July 7, 2009 on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. It is the follow-up to his third album Now
Now (Maxwell album)
Now is the third studio album by American recording artist Maxwell, released August 14, 2001 on Columbia Records in the United States. Following the lukewarm radio success of his previous album Embrya , Maxwell felt more comfortable with his artistic direction for Now, which does not exhibit his...
(2001). Recording sessions for the album took place during 2007 to 2009 and production was handled entirely by Maxwell and Hod David.
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling 316,000 copies in its first week. It became Maxwell's fourth consecutive US platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
album and produced four singles that achieved Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
chart success. Upon its release, the album received general acclaim from most music critics and earned Maxwell two Grammy Awards at the 52nd Grammy Awards
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
. It has sold over one million copies in the United States.
Background
Recording sessions for the album took place during 2007 to 2009 at Chung King StudiosChung King Studios
Chung King Recording Studios, formerly known as The Chung King House Of Metal, is a New York City recording studio founded by John King with financial backing of the Etches brothers and engineer expertise of Steve Ett became a site of many classic punk and hip hop recordings...
, Bowery Digital, and Platinum Sound Recording Studios in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The album was produced entirely by Maxwell and musician Hod David. BLACKsummers'night is Maxwell's first album since his hiatus after his third album, Now
Now (Maxwell album)
Now is the third studio album by American recording artist Maxwell, released August 14, 2001 on Columbia Records in the United States. Following the lukewarm radio success of his previous album Embrya , Maxwell felt more comfortable with his artistic direction for Now, which does not exhibit his...
(2001), and serves as the first part of his scheduled trilogy of albums.
The music of BLACKsummers'night is rooted in general soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, and it features a more straightforward musical structure than Maxwell's previous work such as Embrya
Embrya
Embyra is the second studio album by R&B and neo soul musician Maxwell, released June 30, 1998 on Columbia Records. As with his previous album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, Maxwell collaborated with Stuart Matthewman, a long-time cohort of Sade...
(1998). Maxwell's lyrics concern his falling in and out of love during his sabbatical period prior to the album's release. In an interview with Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul
Blues & Soul
Blues & Soul is a British music magazine covering black music. Genres covered include soul, R&B, jazz, hip hop, reggae and world music. It was first published in 1966 and is known for first using the term Northern Soul....
, Maxwell stated "The inspiration was real life itself. You know, while I was taking time away from the industry, I came across a relationship that took me by surprise."
Release and promotion
The album was released on July 7, 2009 in multiple formats: digital, physical CD only, physical CD/DVD (Deluxe Version), and vinyl. The deluxe version includes video, entitled "5DAYSofBLACK", which discusses the development of songs and also includes the music video for "Pretty Wings".The album produced four singles. Its lead single "Pretty Wings" debuted at number one on the US Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart, ultimately spending 47 weeks on the chart. It also spent 18 weeks and peaked at number 33 on the Hot 100 and at number 12 on its Radio Songs component chart. The album's second single, "Bad Habits", peaked at number four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, spending 46 weeks on the chart. It peaked at number 71 on the Hot 100, at number 38 on the Radio Songs chart, and at number 16 on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The third single "Cold" spent one week at number 62 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The album's fourth single "Fistful of Tears" spent 24 weeks on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at number 11. It charted at number 94 on the Hot 100 and at number 63 on the Radio Songs chart.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart in July 2009, with first-week sales of 316,000 copies, serving as Maxwell's highest first-week sales. It also entered at number one on Billboards Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
, and at number two on the Top Digital Albums. In its second week on the Billboard 200, it fell to number two with an additional 103,000 copies sold. In its third week, the album dropped to number three with 72,000 more copies sold. In its fourth week, the album sold 55,000 more copies at number three on the chart. By August 2009, BLACKsummers'night had sold 550,000 copies , according to Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
. Charting at number seven on the Billboard 200, the album sold 43,000 copies in its fifth week. It maintained its position at number seven in its sixth week, selling an additional 38,000 copies. It spent 42 weeks on both the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.
In Canada, the album debuted at number 25 on the Top 100
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...
chart, spending one week on the chart. In the United Kingdom, BLACKsummers'night entered at number 66 on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, spending one week on the chart, and at number 23 on the UK R&B Chart
UK R&B Chart
The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week...
. On January 19, 2010, the album was certified platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
, following shipments in excess of one million copies in the United States. It serves as his fourth consecutive platinum-selling album and has sold more than one million copies in the United States.
Critical response
BLACKsummers'night received general acclaim from music critics. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 85, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Allmusic editor Andy Kellman gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and complimented its "dimensions and progress" from Maxwell's previous work. Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
commented that he sings "with remarkable grace and subtlety" and that "the songs are focused and often lovely and the execution is crisp". Glenn Gamboa of Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
viewed the album as an improvement over his previous works' smooth style, stating "he's added dependable hooks to the groove, lyrical and melodic points to hold onto, rather than simply floating around in the R&B-infused atmosphere". Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
's Tyler Munro called it "dynamically written and produced", commending Maxwell for his "understated, quiet confidence", "versatility as a vocalist", and "the timing, variation and execution of the instruments". Mariel Concepcion of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
complimented his performance and the album's "heart-pounding melodies and true-to-life love stories". Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
writer Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
commented that it "evokes the complex late ‘70s albums of Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
", and stated, "Maxwell explores his vulnerabilities and idiosyncrasies, while toughening up his sound. Darting horns and skittering bass lines frame allusive lyrics and slippery melodies". Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
gave the album four out of five stars and dubbed it his best since Urban Hang Suite
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is the debut album of American recording artist Maxwell, released April 2, 1996 on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place during 1994 to 1995 at Electric Lady Studios, RPM, Sorcerer, and Chung King Studios in New York City and...
.
However, The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
s Paul Mardles gave the album three out of five stars and criticized Maxwell's "fondness for cliche
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
". Allison Stewart of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
called the album "cerebral but impersonal [...] never quite breaks free of its self-imposed restraints". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Leah Greenblatt viewed that "his sentiments rarely transcend the boudoir — and listeners lulled by the album's unvaryingly sleek, high-gloss beats may just drift off to dreamland before they get there". Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
writer Jim DeRogatis
Jim DeRogatis
James "Jim" DeRogatis is an American music critic and co-host of Sound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as Spin, Guitar World and Modern Drummer, and for fifteen years was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.He joined Columbia College Chicago as a full-time...
commented that several songs "never rise above the level of pleasant background music", but called it "gorgeously recorded, tastefully arranged and beautifully played". Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
's Eric Henderson complimented the album's "brisk and intangible 37 minutes of grown-folks grooves" and Maxwell's "musical commitment to feminizing masculinity, or vice versa". Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's David Drake found Maxwell to be "structurally ambitious, with the kind of consistent unpredictability and subversiveness of the song form, embracing the unexpected [...] its best songs balancing compositional excellence, development, and tension, with carefully designed moods that reflect or complement each work's lyrical focus". Drake viewed that it "trades the physical sensuality of his earlier work for a deep emotional resonance" and commented on Maxwell's "focus and attention to detail", stating:
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
writer Jody Rosen
Jody Rosen
Jody Rosen is an American journalist and author. He is the music critic for the online magazine Slate, and the author of White Christmas: The Story of an American Song....
called it "an R&B album about love, not just sex, for grown-ups who know the difference". Elysa Gardner of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
wrote that "Maxwell's fluid, forthright singing leaves no doubt of his conviction". Andrew Rennie of NOW
NOW (magazine)
Now is a free weekly newspaper in Toronto, Canada. It was first printed on September 10, 1981 by Michael Hollett and Alice Klein. Now is an alternative weekly mixing arts and entertainment news with political coverage....
praised Maxwell's musicianship, stating "he draws from all manner of bedroom-ready genres and amalgamates them into his own personal sound". Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writer Ann Powers
Ann Powers
Ann Powers is an American writer and pop music critic.Powers has been writing about popular music and society since the early 1980s...
found its songs structure complimentary to the album's themes, stating "the music replicates the experience of an intimate connection, its ebbs and surges, its sometimes frustrating turns". Christian John Wikane of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
stated, "With producer Hod David, Maxwell naturally integrates the horn section into the tracks, lending a live feel to the production and making it easy to imagine these songs will feel right at home in front of an audience". New York Daily News writer Jim Farber gave the album five out of five stars and compared its songs to "Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
’s more daring pieces, with background and foreground parts trading places as they go". The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
s Clover Hope perceived more concise and "existentialist" songwriting by Maxwell than on his previous work, stating "The constant with Maxwell is that he tackles the topic of love with a philosopher's eye [...] It's easy to fancy the mood of his music over its poeticism, but with BLACK, he strikes a pleasant balance that's neither boring nor overwhelming".
Accolades
BLACKsummers'night was one of 2009's most critically acclaimed music releases, being ranked near or at the top of several critics' year-end lists of best albums. The album was ranked number 14 on The Village Voices 2009 Pazz & JopPazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics' poll. In naming it the best album of the year, Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
discussed its musical significance to R&B and soul music genres, writing:
Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
named it the seventh best album of 2009. Billboard ranked it number nine on its list of the top ten albums of the year. The Boston Globes Sarah Rodman named it the fifth best album of the year, and The Washington Posts Chris Richards ranked it number one on his list of 2009's best albums. Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
called it the 9th best album of 2009. The album also earned Maxwell two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s, for Best R&B Album
Grammy Award for Best R&B Album
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre...
and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male...
("Pretty Wings
Pretty Wings
"Pretty Wings" is a single by American singer-songwriter Maxwell's fourth studio album BLACKsummers'night. It was written and produced by Maxwell and Hod David....
"), at the 52nd Grammy Awards
52nd Grammy Awards
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast...
in 2010.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits for BLACKsummers'night adapted from liner notes.| Players |
|---|
|
| # | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BLACKsummers'night | Produced by Hod David and Musze (Maxwell). Written by Musze and Hod David. Recorded in NYC at Chung King Studios, Bowery Digital, and Platinum Sound Recording Studios. Engineered by Jesse Gladstone, Hod David, Musze, Glen Marchese, and Mike Pela. Assistant Engineers: Dave Clauss, Anthony Palazzole, Michael Makowski, and Benedetto Caccavale Mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound (NYC). Photography: Eric Johnson Design: Julian Peploe Studio Barbers: Curtis Smith and Paul Mouton Styling: Nicola Formichetti Nicola Formichetti Nicola Formichetti is an internationally prolific fashion director and fashion editor of mixed Italian and Japanese heritage. He is most widely known as the new creative director for the French fashion house MUGLER, and for being a frequent collaborator with singer-songwriter and performance... and Nicolas Klam |
|
| 1 | "Bad Habits" | Mixed by Glen Marchese at Platinum Sound Recording Studios |
| 2 | "Cold" | Mixed by Mike Pela at Chung King Recording Studios and Glen Marchese at Platinum Sound Recording Studios |
| 3 | "Pretty Wings" | Mixed by Mike Pela at Chung King Recording Studios |
| 4 | "Help Somebody" | Mixed by Glen Marchese at Platinum Sound Recording Studios |
| 5 | "Stop the World" | Mixed by Mike Pela at Chung King Recording Studios |
| 6 | "Love You" | Mixed by Glen Marchese at Platinum Sound Recording Studios |
| 7 | "Fistful of Tears" | Mixed by Mike Pela at Chung King Recording Studios |
| 8 | "Playing Possum" | Mixed by Glen Marchese at Platinum Sound Recording Studios |
| 9 | "Phoenix Rise" | Mixed by Glen Marchese at Platinum Sound Recording Studios |
Chart positions
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
25 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
31 |
| French Albums Chart | 147 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
66 |
| UK R&B Chart UK R&B Chart The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week... |
23 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
1 |
External links
- BLACKsummers'night at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- BLACKsummers'night at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...