maxwell: blackSUMMERS'night :: the poll

tfw "lake by the ocean" enters the wormhole at the end of the middle eight

god, Brad, I was listening to this album in the shower today.

"Gods," I think.

such a great album. between all the ways and gods for me. the only song that isn't excellent is III.

I haven't listened to the whole album since it was new, but "Lake By the Ocean" was in my Top 10 of that year.

“Lake” was one of my favorite singles of that year too, but damn, how crazy good is “All the Ways Love Can Feel”?

his best opener imo

agreed, and "get to know ya" and "bad habits" are both phenomenal

show me the lessons of your life

the only song that isn't excellent is III.

― Jeff the grown man (voodoo chili), Monday, June 10, 2019 6:49 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

counterpoint: the horns

"Lake by the Ocean" barely over "Lost", which feels like it was meticulously crafted in a lab to sound as if Al Green's "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart" was re-imagined to channel "She's So Heavy" and "Tea For One"

Hostage for me. love his phrasing on it. so much depth in the mix. sublime when the drums kick in. best climax on the album.

Gods is #2 for me. The back half of the album is perfect. ok so is the front half.

btw, thank you Brad for starting this thread. I’d never have known I needed Maxwell back in my life this very day!

"gods" stole my heart when it was just a snippet he uploaded to soundcloud tho i will cop to still preferring that version

i've never really seen it for this album but i'm gonna listen again

"all the ways love can feel" > "bad habits" is not a train i will ever be able to hop aboard

I always loved it but I swooned to its moist groove and forked falsetto when I heard it on the way to his Hollywood show in October 2018.

the horns are the best part of this album

btw, thank you Brad for starting this thread. I’d never have known I needed Maxwell back in my life this very day!

^^

the only song that isn't excellent is III.

― Jeff the grown man (voodoo chili), Monday, June 10, 2019 6:49 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

counterpoint: the horns

― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, June 11, 2019 2:40 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Didn’t say it wasn’t good, just not excellent. The groove/melody puts me on edge, not quite sure why, while the rest of the album is like taking a warm bath

i feel that, it's def the sharpest-sounding song here. also i was mainly making a bad counterpoint joke

nah the counterpoint is valid, the horns do sound great, and they aren't in the song enough imo

the horns are the best part of this album

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, June 11, 2019 6:36 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i find this to be true of part one as well (well, it's the horns + chris dave)

"all the ways love can feel" > "bad habits" is not a train i will ever be able to hop aboard

Oh, I booked the first seat available on that train

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Feels cheap, but I voted for the first track.

Really this whole record is masterful. Can't wait for the next one. So far, he's two for two on this trilogy and it's improved with each record, so yeah!

Voted for “All The Ways” too, and feeling all the richer for it!

ended up voting for "the fall" bc it's such a cool song

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Wow.

yes!

it's official, "all the ways love can feel" is the song of the summer

Can confirm.

this is my favorite maxwell album now

They're both my favorite, but this one's just a little bit more favorite.

i think this is probably his weakest overall actually

struggling to figure out which maxwell album i think is the weakest

all his albums are good-to-great but this one just falls off a little towards the end

Agreed. To think every Maxwell album offers the same level of satisfaction is bonkers.

Not a huge fan of his first few albums tbh.

The second's the weakest, though "Cococure" is my essential Maxwell jam.

y'all need to get yourselves right with embrya

i adore embrya

embrya is such a warm bath. don't understand the mixed reception for that one, maybe you had to be there

oh I was there, loved his debut

The next two albums were his best.

Embrya is his best and then probably the two BSNs and then probably the first and third.

embrya is top ten all time for me. dead serious.

tim, we should be friends.

We can agree we all love Maxwell, and we all love Brad's Pitchfork piece on Embrya.

you're right, we can agree. because we're friends. isn't that nice.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE

recently got this on vinyl, remarkably good pressing/packaging...sounds amazing

Only two more years until we should see blacksummers'NIGHT!