A friend of mine put it rather well when he said that the Holy Trinity of Neo-Soul (D'Angelo, Maxwell and Erykah Badu (I want to say Son, Holy Spirit and Father respectively but don't quote me)) was again in effect when Maxwell's new single, Pretty Wings, dropped. I find myself both agreeing and disagreeing, if only because I think the "divinity" of neo-soul includes the "Prince on ecstasy" voiced Bilal. Regardless, in his review he gave this album a 4 out of 5, citing its length as the main, maybe even sole, reason he didn't give the album a perfect 5. It's not my style to take anyone's word outside of my own when it comes to music so I went to the store and bought the CD (a MAJOR sign of respect from me) and gave it a couple of listens. My assessment? Well...

Maxwell has always been my third favorite neo-soul singer, falling after Bilal at the number two spot and Erykah Badu as the queen for reasons going far beyond the realm of music. He had me sold and nearly claimed the number two spot with the song "Fortunate", off of the Life soundtrack. That song still receives a lot of replay in my musical profiles. I didn't really get into his previous work but I was mad impressed with what I stumbled across. He was always mysterious, considering he wrote his own song and didn't let R. Kelly do it (talking about Fortunate again) and his lyrics bordered between salt-of-the-earth and edge-of-the-galaxy, and sometimes you didn't know just what the hell he was talking about. To me, then and now, that was the essence of neo-soul: multiple meanings in the most lunatic of songs, poetry over soulful beats, courtly love in a desirable manner. The Soulquarians were/are pure neo-soul. Maxwell wasn't a part of that. That's why I'm not as mad as I could be that BLACKsummers'night is disappointing as a neo-soul album.

Hear me out. On a whole I love this album, not as much as I love something like Baduizm or 1st Born Second, but the distinction between those two to this is that those two are neo-soul; BLACKsummers'night is R&B. Maxwell comes out the gate with the guitar-laced Bad Habits and croons about the hardest parts of a relationship and drifts right into Cold, the story about the cold blooded woman we all know. Pretty Wings, my new second favorite Maxwell song, is the same old subject matter but he puts a twist on it and does the song so well I can forgive it. It's just a great song, no more or less.

Help Somebody is interesting in that it's more along the lines of What's Going On? Marvin Gaye in its meaning. Stop the World shares in that distinction too, though its meaning is a little more divided and Maxwell comes across as a little braggadocios. Love You and Fistful of Tears are accidental nods to Keith Sweat; Maxwell isn't exactly begging but he is pleading rather strongly, apologizing to a girl and working towards a second chance. Playing Possum, more so because of the band than the lyrics themselves, hold the silver medal in songs on the album because of how masterfully the trumpet is played. Otherwise he's still in Keith Sweat mode.

The last track is a serious break from the norm; Phoenix Rise is a pure instrumental, a chance for Maxwell's ingenious band to shine. It's a pleasant way to end the album, although the song sounds a bit too electric in the beginning and feels too New Jack Swing for my R&B or neo-soul tastes throughout, but it's still nice.

It sounds like I'm just griping about the album and not giving it any props whatsoever. I give this album a 3.85 out of 5 on a scale of 1 to 5 for two reasons. The first reason is the driving force behind the music, the band. I have no idea who Maxwell tapped for this project (I'd know if I had the CD case nearby but I don't feel like going to the car this late) but on every song they hit it out of the park. It was first notable on Pretty Wings but they really shine, alongside Maxwell's voice that is (Phoenix Rise is their time to do it solo and they do it well) is Fistful of Tears. They aren't just a good match for Maxwell's voice; they're a nearly flawless match.

Reason two for the score is the shift. I said earlier that this wasn't neo-soul; it was R&B. As poetic as Maxwell is the band he can attribute so much positive influence to keeps the sound very R&B and even occasionally electronic. Maxwell himself doesn't vary up his subject matter enough to break the mold exponentially and even if you break down the genres this album falls into (neo-soul, R&B and "funk") its still a bit discombobulated.

When I first heard about the band behind Maxwell's newest venture I thought about my favorite album of all time, Hot Buttered Soul by Isaac Hayes and his band. I say Issac Hayes and his band because they own that album just as much Isaac Hayes did. While it was only four tracks long the band took over 80% of the first track, 80% of the second, 15% of the fourth and they were in total sync, the band and the late great Mr. Hayes, on the epic final track. They were in perfect sync the entire way but when I heard BLACKsummers'night I expected something along the same lines. This is not a criticism so much as an expectation. If anything it bumped my score up from 3.5 to 3.85 because BLACKsummers'night is part one of a trilogy and I have a feeling that blackSUMMERS'night is going to be more of what I wanted and blacksummers'NIGHT will be the new Hot Buttered Soul. I know I'm aiming a bit high here and putting a bit of pressure on Maxwell but he's been pushing for that number two spot of my top neo-soul singers list since Fortunate and by all accounts this LP sound have done the deed.

While he won't dethrone Erykah Badu's fine ass anytime soon he's still carrying the bronze in my book and that's adequate. This album is good, real good, but he switched it up a little too much with a little too much warning. I can't complain, however, because this is the best R&B album I've heard in a long time. I can't wait until next year's blackSUMMERS'night so I can enjoy yet another dose of good music from what my friend calls "part of the Neo-Soul Holy Trinity."

Rating: 3.85 out of 5