I'm so iffy on blackSUMMER'Snight. I'm not sure if I totally dig it yet. Bsn is so far in the past, I've sorta forgotten about it. I feel like I'm losing touch with Maxwell, and I don't want to. I've been listening to the albums in the last week or two, shuffling songs, etc.

I still quite love Urban Hang Suite. It's such a perfect record. unplugged is actually next for me, but as far as studio albums, it's Embrya in second place. Now had its moments, but it was a half-step down from the first two albums. Oddly, Now was his first #1 on the US chart, as well as another on the R&B. UHS wasn't a huge hit at all onthe US chart, which is amazing to me.

Anyway, here's how I rate them overall, and oddly they're just about in order of release. Not sure what that says, if anything.

1. Urban Hang Suite
2. Embrya
3. Unplugged
4. Now
5. blackSUMMER'Snight
6. BLACKsummer'snight

How about you? And with five years between Bsn and bSn, I'm not hopeful about bsN anytime soon. I'm not sure these fit together at this point, or if he's just releasing music and sticking with the trilogy game until it's over.

TrivialPursuit said:

1. Urban Hang Suite
2. Embrya
3. Unplugged
4. Now
5. blackSUMMER'Snight
6. BLACKsummer'snight

Fair. I'd put bSn at 4. Now and Bsn at 5 and 6. But your placement is legit.

1. Embrya

2. Unplugged

3. Now

4. UHS

5. Summers

6. Black

I think Now is just so mediocre. But I think Embrya needs re-assessing by critics and fans
alike as it stands justifiably with some of Lewis Taylor's best work.

TrivialPursuit said:

Dasein said:

I think Now is just so mediocre. But I think Embrya needs re-assessing by critics and fans
alike as it stands justifiably with some of Lewis Taylor's best work.

Maxwell was on Storytellers a few years ago. He mentioned Embrya, and said something like "I did this album called Embrya..." and people really cheered for it. He genuinely seemed surprised by the reaction of the fans to knowing and liking it. I always got the notion that he was somehow uneasy about that album. Not sure if he thought it was more experimental than UHS, or if he just felt the negativity some critics gave it. But it was an interesting moment.

It's such a thick, textured, and rich album. I love the hidden track in the -00:00 time frame. (In case you don't know, start track one, then scan (not skip) backwards until it scans about 3 minutes. The hidden track is in the negative time space, so it counts from -3:00 down to 00:00 then track 1 starts. It's sold digitally as it's own track.) It's like laying in a silk bed, getting a blowjob and eating the best chocolate on earth, all at the same time.

Dasein said:

I think Now is just so mediocre. But I think Embrya needs re-assessing by critics and fans alike as it stands justifiably with some of Lewis Taylor's best work.

I agree that Now was so underwhelming on the heels of Embrya. And Embrya suffered by following UHS.

For what it's worth, as far as I can tell, fans have held Embrya in high esteem for a while. Also as far as I can tell, I agree that critics (on the whole) have not re-evaluated Embrya, but as with some of Prince's work, after 2 decades actually pass, that could change.

on a scale of 1 to 10, embrya still rates a solid 98 for me that album is just too good.

1. Embrya
2. Unplugged
3. Urban Hang Suite
4. Now
5. Summers'
6. Black

namepeace said:

Dasein said:

I think Now is just so mediocre. But I think Embrya needs re-assessing by critics and fans alike as it stands justifiably with some of Lewis Taylor's best work.

I agree that Now was so underwhelming on the heels of Embrya. And Embrya suffered by following UHS.

For what it's worth, as far as I can tell, fans have held Embrya in high esteem for a while. Also as far as I can tell, I agree that critics (on the whole) have not re-evaluated Embrya, but as with some of Prince's work, after 2 decades actually pass, that could change.

My favorite song off of Now is "For Lover's Only." I really appreciate it when R&B artists incorporate
instrumentation typically not associated with the genre - here I'm speaking of the languid banjo and
am reminded of Tony! Toni! Tone!'s use of a pedal steel guitar for "Lay Your Head On My Pillow" which
I find to be breathtakingly gorgeous.

I guess when I ask for Maxwell's fans to re-assess Embrya, I'm speaking to my hunch that it is a
more interesting work than Urban Hang Suite.

bluegangsta said:

1. Embrya
2. Unplugged
3. Urban Hang Suite

4. Now
5. Summers'
6. Black

1-3:

Yep! . . .


4-6:

. . . but I can't co-sign!

Dasein said:

namepeace said:

I agree that Now was so underwhelming on the heels of Embrya. And Embrya suffered by following UHS.

For what it's worth, as far as I can tell, fans have held Embrya in high esteem for a while. Also as far as I can tell, I agree that critics (on the whole) have not re-evaluated Embrya, but as with some of Prince's work, after 2 decades actually pass, that could change.

My favorite song off of Now is "For Lover's Only." I really appreciate it when R&B artists incorporate instrumentation typically not associated with the genre - here I'm speaking of the languid banjo and am reminded of Tony! Toni! Tone!'s use of a pedal steel guitar for "Lay Your Head On My Pillow" which I find to be breathtakingly gorgeous.

I like "Noone" best off that album.

I guess when I ask for Maxwell's fans to re-assess Embrya, I'm speaking to my hunch that it is a more interesting work than Urban Hang Suite.

My hunch is, though UHS is seemingly the gold standard for most Maxwell fans, most would also admit that Embrya is the more interesting album. Both albums seem like "concepts", but the latter is more adventurous than the former.

IstenSzek said:

BLACKsummers'night

Embrya

MTV Unplugged

blackSUMMERS'night

Now

Urban Hang Suite

I'm sorry, I can barely listen to Urban Hang Suite these days. I just don't think it's aged that well and it's too much of "a young man's album" to my ears. I can't take the vocal stylings on many songs seriously anymore, although they did sound just fine to me back in the day. I prefer listening to the Unplugged versions instead.

BLACKsummers'night is incredible - I just love the overall sound. The second one in the series is arguably rather similar in style, but the songs aren't as good.

"Fistful Of Tears" is my favourite Maxwell song. I like playing it on the piano myself.