It had all the makings of a genius publicity stunt … that went horribly wrong and is now now subject to raging backlash. But Maxim, in printing in its March issue a review of the Black Crowes' album Warpaint even though the critic, David Peisner, never listened to it (since advance copies weren't made available), didn't mean to generate any press by issuing 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Now, incoming editorial director James Kaminsky finds himself apologizing for the gaff after the Crowes, their manager Pete Angelus, and fans, began complaining. (Maxim initially responded to Angelus that the review was an "educated guess.")

Though how surprised should we be? This stunt does come from a magazine who fired movie critic Pete Hammond, famous for giving terrible movies glowing reviews just so he could get his name in their ads.