The American version of Maxim magazine has been forced to apologise to The Black Crowes after it awarded their latest album ‘Warpaint’ a rating without having even listened to the record.

The magazine gave the Crowes’ first record in seven years a 2.5 star rating, despite the fact that there were no promo copies of the album released, or, anywhere on the internet where they could have listened to it.

Writing on their website, The Black Crowes blasted the review, stating: "Incredulously, the magazine gave the album a two-and-a-half star rating, although neither the writer nor the editor could have heard more than one song - the single ‘Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution.’"

Their manager Pete Angelus took things a step further condemning Maxim’s actions as "a disgrace to the arts, journalism, critics, the publication itself and the public."

In response, Maxim have held their hands up and admitted to the blunder. Editorial director James Kaminsky said: It is Maxim's editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety.

Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologise to our readers."

According to the BBC, it’s not yet clear whether the journalist who wrote the article will face any further action.

(by Scott Colothan)