Princes' June made me think of this album from Maxwell in 1998

I posted this inthat thread butthis album reall needs its own discussion. It is sublime from start to finish.

Once I start this album I have to go all the way through. What an incredible cohesive amazing work of art this is. This track is a standout.

I love the Embrya album...still sounds fresh and unique and dreamy to this day. Reminds me of water , which is a good thing. A very soothing, healing, romantic and soulful album.

Very cohesive and probably one of the most listenable, most enjoyable albums ever recorded by anyone.

I wouldn´t say it´s better than Urban Hang Suite though. Both are great in their own right.

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I was very disappointed with his releases that came after Urban Hang Suite and Embrya.

Why does such a smart artist like Maxwell not realize what people liked about him and his music in the first place? Him and Matthewman make great music together, and I think he should come back with another concept album and trademark sound. UHS and Embrya are timeless masterpieces.

I know Black Summer´s Dream or whatever it was called was supposed to be a concept album , too, or better yet trilogy, but a three part concept or trilogy was unrealistic after such a long hiatus.

I follow Maxwell on FB but don´t see any updates these days.

Last time I heard from him he was doing cruiseship concerts in the Carribbean.

Time for new music.

He´s surely missed.

KoolEaze said:

I love the Embrya album...still sounds fresh and unique and dreamy to this day. Reminds me of water , which is a good thing. A very soothing, healing, romantic and soulful album.

Very cohesive and probably one of the most listenable, most enjoyable albums ever recorded by anyone.

I wouldn´t say it´s better than Urban Hang Suite though. Both are great in their own right.

-

I was very disappointed with his releases that came after Urban Hang Suite and Embrya.

Why does such a smart artist like Maxwell not realize what people liked about him and his music in the first place? Him and Matthewman make great music together, and I think he should come back with another concept album and trademark sound. UHS and Embrya are timeless masterpieces.

I know Black Summer´s Dream or whatever it was called was supposed to be a concept album , too, or better yet trilogy, but a three part concept or trilogy was unrealistic after such a long hiatus.

I follow Maxwell on FB but don´t see any updates these days.

Last time I heard from him he was doing cruiseship concerts in the Carribbean.

Time for new music.

He´s surely missed.

One of my friends worked on UHS - and he was mystiified why he wouldnt work with him anymore after they won so many awards....

Embrya sounds so unique to this day. and the reference to water is perfect - its like an underwater dream state where you expereince everything in an altered reality.

I follow maxwell on fb too and - its kind of like d'angelo....they both created thier own signature sound around the same time...the fame came and then boom - something happened where they couldnt get it together.

I'd like ot see maxwell have a resurgence like d'angelo has. the field was crowded in the 90's but there's room now in the marketplace for their niche to be expressed. Maxwells way with words is really unparalled. You're right both UHS and Embrya are timeless masterpieces.

Maxwell...

WTF happened 2 him??? Two masterpieces, "Urban Hang Suite" and "Embrya," an okay album, a LONG absence, a new album (that sucked) and yet anOTHER long absence. Not sure what's goin' on, but I doubt that he'll come back hard again if he ever comes back at ALL. The whole "Black Summers' Night" was a good idea, but not cohesive enough. Plus, grammatically, it just didn't work.

Anyone up on their grammar from grade school on knows that "Black Summers' Night" is incorrect. He's got a plural/singular form happening here. The correct title should have been "Black Summers' Nights" or simply "Black Summer's Night." Not "Black Summers' Night." Then, to promise two more parts based on an already grammatically incorrect iniital title, only proved fruitless.

MY suggestion: Drop the whole trilogy thing and start fresh with a new title and a new CD, if it ever happens. We've been promised a new CD since 2008 and here we are seven years later and STILL nothing. "Good things come 2 those who wait," they say.

BlackCandle said:

Oh, the irony... At the time, Embrya killed Maxwells career. He pulled a Prince "Lovesexy" move, without the pedigree to back it up. Now, here we are, and it's like Maxwell was ahead of his time, the godfather to the whole Alt-RnB movement, & now Prince is following Him with HitNRun. The irony is that the follow-up to Embyra (which features Michael B on Drums) was a more blatant attempt to emulate Prince & fell flat. I thought BSN was a good album, but he shouldn't have promised follow-ups he couldn't deliver. From his tweets, I get the impression that Sam Smith & that whole movement threw him off his game & he felt he needed to switch up. Unfortunately, The Weeknd beat him to it... [Edited 9/17/15 11:11am] [Edited 9/17/15 11:12am]

???

Really? I´ve been into Maxwell´s music since day one and never noticed any backlash due to Embrya. I really don´t remember any negative reviews but I do remember that many people compared the Now album to Prince´s music.

Totally agree with you about BSN. He shouldn´t have promised a trilogy. Now it will always be some kind of unfinished business when he could really just go on and come up with a fresh, new project and album idea.

Can´t wait for him to come back with some strong songs and strong melodies, preferrably with his old team. Never change a winning team.

BlackCandle said:

Really. Check the sales. Check any of his post-Embrya interviews where he talks about the album. R Kelly saved him w/ Fortunate (which he didn't even want to do). But Embryas a really cohesive ambient album to get lost in. A lost classic., which I return to more often than UHS.

Thanks for the info. I never knew about that. The thing is, even though I used to read many magazines back then, I never really saw that many Maxwell interviews apart from maybe one or two interviews here and there, and I never heard or read him say anything about Embrya (which is one of my all time favorite albums).

Guess I will search for some old interviews right now.

Great record. I remember there was some fallout with "Embrya" because it wasn't "Urban Hang Suite Part 2". Maxwell also caught some flack (from fans and critics) over the "bathtub video". Some of the ladies I knew were turned off by it. I'm gonna have to dig this one out and revisit it.

Urban Hang Suite was my favorite Max album....until Embrya came out. "Drowndeep" still gets me everytime to this day. "Now" was a disappointment for me. I did like a number of songs but it pales in comparison to the first two.

Musicslave said:

Dag, I love this album. I remember it getting a lot of negativity, as it was a departure from 'Urban Hang Suite' album... I know a bunch of cats who played on the first album, some were also on 'Embrya'. Both albums (in CD format) got HEAVY rotation by me.

God this was a great summer. I don't love every song as much I might have back then but Cococurious is still an all time fave.

Embrya is Maxwell's best album, hands down. I just bristle at people who think you're supposed to think Urban Hang is the best, because it's not. I like it, but it is my least favorite of his albums. Nothing on Urban Hang could touch the slow simmer that permeates Embrya. I think the whole of side 2 is one of the greatest sides any album ever had. E-VAR!

??? Your words make sense to no one...but yourself. If you got put off Embrya, then you have no soul.

NorthC said:

Musicslave said:

Urban Hang Suite was my favorite Max album....until Embrya came out. "Drowndeep" still gets me everytime to this day. "Now" was a disappointment for me. I did like a number of songs but it pales in comparison to the first two.

Yes. The first album was cool, but this one... It's not so much his Lovesexy, but his Terence Trent d'Arby presents Neither Fish Nor Flesh. A good singer thinking he's a genius... This album put me off Maxwell...forever I'm afraid to say... Still, he did a great concert in Rotterdam in 1997 where he covered Kate Bush's This Woman's Work. Wonderful.

HataHZappa said:

Embrya is Maxwell's best album, hands down. I just bristle at people who think you're supposed to think Urban Hang is the best, because it's not. I like it, but it is my least favorite of his albums. Nothing on Urban Hang could touch the slow simmer that permeates Embrya. I think the whole of side 2 is one of the greatest sides any album ever had. E-VAR!

Ya I love all Maxwells albums, but Embrya is on another - otherworldy level - its a bonafide masterpiece