Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite

I like R&B generally. But at times, the tracks here amount to little more than schmaltzy love(r) songs.

Stunning album absolutely loved it

This made me uncomfortable, like when your aunt kisses your face.

Yeah this shit bangs

Lightweight neo soul. Just very dull

When I read Apple Music’s description of this album and saw the opening track “has no words”, and is a “jazz jam”, I suspected this album would not be for me. And I was mostly right. There was a period a few tracks in where it sounded more like a standard R&B or soul album (“Sumthin’ Sumthin’” and “Ascension”), where I found it quite enjoyable. And, overall, I think Maxwell has a nice voice. But, as I originally suspected, this was just not for me overall.

God I found this boring. I kept tuning out and thinking about the food shopping for tonight, what I needed to get done when I arrived at work, what was going to happen in the US midterm elections (and I don't even live there and am not American). Basically anything other than listening to his schmaltzy warbling. This is just fundamentally not my kinda music. Maxwell might be the greatest neo-soul artist in history and I'd struggle to stay engaged. I think the worst point was when Till The Cops Come Knocking stopped, and then started again DESPITE ALREADY BEING SIX MINUTES LONG! He was heading for a grudging 2 before that became the final nail in the coffin. 1/5

Smooth, sweet neo soul/R&B with excellent production, vocals, and instrumentals. I’m surprised to see it have such a low average rating. I liked this so much more than the Marvin Gaye divorce album.

The music on this album grooves quite effortlessly, but it kind of fades as muzak on the background. Hard to see what separates this album from the many similar easy listening soul albums and for what reasons this particular album was selected to this list.

Stylish, sleek and almost too clean. Cutting vocals out would make this easier to digest because vocals starts to bother me after handful of tracks .

Holy cow, what a cheesy jam!

#515 / 1089 Heard before? ❌ Revisit? ✅ I love soul and old school r'n'b, but this is a bit too close to the modern dance stuff occasion. It also feels like something a "4 sexytime" algorithm generated playlist might serve up, I can almost smell the lube and sweat. This being released in the mid 90's tho, must've been forerunners for modern soul/r'n'b sound or something! Ah, wikipedia names this album as one of the shapers of the neo soul movement. It's not for daily listening for me, but I do feel some tracks off this could be on the same playlist where I keep Sade on. Strong 3/5

More like palatable telephone hold music than something I’d want to actively listen to. I happily played it through twice while I was working and hardly noticed it was there. Totally inoffensive. Barely registers.

Today I am reacquainted with Neo-soul, a sub-genre of R&B. Great bass playing. Smooth vocals. Very chill organ work, solid drumming. Kind of boring; just slides off my brain. It's not the fault of R&B, it's just something about what I'm used to or how I'm wired. I feel bad saying 3/5 but that's all I've got. I need a better education in R&B and soul, I think. On the other hand, I finished the album about 45 minutes ago and I've forgotten the whole thing already.

Smooth, sexy, easy listen

I’ll be short and sweet with this one. I was completely unfamiliar with Maxwell when I started Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, but it didn’t take long to figure out what kind of album I was listening to. This is very much baby-making music, and I’m here for it. It’s soulful, smooth, and incredibly groovy, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Sometimes an album doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel—it just needs to set the right mood, and Maxwell absolutely nailed that.

Man, this is a solid R&B album. It's so funky, groovy, and smooth all the way through and was very gratifying to listen to. This was a nice surprise. 4/5... would listen again.

Album so smooth it turned my brain into a bowling ball. Its good, maxwell voice sounds great, same for the production. Its just not my type of music. Its an hour (or 50 minutes, I dont remember) long and it all sounds the same, by the end you kinda want it to end. A 2.91/5 user score is crazy wtf.

Meeehhh

Some real grocery store sounding stuff. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but i don’t quite need a full hour of soft funk with intermittent slow sex jams. Some of the little flourishes this album does come off pretty dated and although it has some nice moments, there aren’t enough and a lot of this left me bored.

I'd never heard of Maxwell. I don't think he ever had much success in the UK. I was really pleasantly surprised with this album. Very smooth, almost a male, American Sade.

Just not my thing.

This is not my favorite style, and it just sounds like Muzak to me.

Not bad, smooth, but not my thing

I had a long rating for this, but it got lost. So the short one, good, but not captivating. Enjoyable but not challenging. 3/5

This is a pretty okay album. I like the music, but it literally blends into one big song.

Not bad at all. Not completely a fan of his voice though.

Not bad, but was not interested in this at all

Pretty much a nope. Smooth R&B. So smooth, all the rough edges (if there ever were any) sanded down so much that this just slips by without catching in any way whatsoever. It does at least provide the satisfying anagram of Maxwell’s Haunting Abuser.

3/5

Smooth and cool. Lots of modern funk type stuff that I love. That bass sound is incredible parts. Such great groove. Some of the ballads land beautifully too. Some of the tracks kind of interrupt the flow a bit for me though. I have a feeling that I could listen more and really love it though

Not a kind of music I've listened much to, but very enjoyable, with lush instrumentations and calming sounds.

Oh yeah, this was nice. Smooth and sexy relaxing tunes and voice. I need to get more into neo soul. Top tracks: Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder, …Til The Cops Come Knockin’, Suitelady (The Proposal Jam)

Slow build on this one as it took third and fourth listen before its soft slink did the job. Not sure if it’s a genre, but I’d label this one Soft R&B. The accoutrements of classic R&B, but Maxwell and the musicians exertions were kept go a minimum. No prostrate singers, popping bass or snares on the one. The guitarist hits the wah-wah without conjuring up Funkadelic nor Isley Brothers. That leaves Marvin Gaye, Al Green and especially Curtis Mayfield as the obvious predecessors. Maxwell can’t quite get there like D’Angelo did. Maxwell seems less tortured than any of them. Even “Til the Cops Come Knocking” where the girl is going to be locked up for days until the cops…does not come off as a bad boy or passionate. After 2 paragraphs of dismissing the album, Maxwell’ Urban Hang Suite still contained enough old school qualities without sounding retro to warrant my respect. I could definitely see some glassy eyed guy putting this record in as a love scene unfolds.

Sensual, smooth, groovy, and sensitive. Intriguing R&B listen from an artist I had never heard of.

He sings good. But I didn’t find this all that appealing. Very repetitive. I’m just not a fan of r&b where they lock in that groove and sing the same stuff and then you get all those vocal runs and oooos and ahhhhs for ten minutes. Early songs also sounded very much like a Michael Jackson wannabe. Lil too close.

This is totally fine but I’m not a huge fan of neo-soul. 2.75/5

Nice

nice background music

DNF

I don't think I have ever heard of Maxwell or anything he's published. It's well-produced, smooth, silky, and boring. It dragged on; even if it's just 65 minutes long, it felt much longer. Not my cup of tea.

Lounge-R&B-Sex-Album. Sehr schön produziert. Typisch 90s. Gute Hintergrundmusik. 4/5

Wow that was Sexy and Smooth. I knew ascension going into this and i thought it’d be good, i just didn’t know it’d be an EASY 5 kinda good. Standouts are bloody all of them, but i guess especially the first half in its entirety.

Good sounds, even if love songs aren't quite my vibe. Fun smooth music

Inte alls min typ av musik! Men periodvis lättlyssnat

Onze vriend Maxwell kweelt een album vol met gelikte loungeclubmuziek, bij sommigen ook wel bekend als het genre 'slaapkamermuziek'. Een natuurlijke doorontwikkeling van het pionierswerk van Barry White en consorten op dit terrein, als is het af en toe zo relaxt dat je er ook bij in slaap zou kunnen vallen. Of een cocktail gaan mixen. Maar goed, het is allemaal weer vakkundig gladjes in elkaar gestoken.

Het eerste nummer is slechts een intro, maar is verreweg het beste nummer van het album. We horen een soort St. Germain jazzhouse. En St. Germain had best in de lijst gemogen. Daarna horen we een niet onverdienstelijke impressie van Michael Jackson (in zijn zeik-nummers-periode). Maar daarna wordt het album glad. Gadverdamme, wat wordt het glad. Bah. Bah. Bah.

De neo-soul uit de 90s was denk ik een soort overgang van Stevie Wonder en Michael Jackson van de 70s en 80s naar het tijdperk van de Justin Timberlakes van deze wereld in de 00s en 10s. We hebben ook al D'Angelo gehad eerder en misschien nog wel wat artiesten in het genre, maar voor mij is het meestal toch redelijk vergeetbaar. Qua muziek zit er over het algemeen wel een lekker funky ritme onder de nummers, dat maakt dat het redelijke arbeidsvitaminen zijn. Het stoort nergens echt overmatig, maar het is me wel aan de zoetsappige kant verder. Het is dus eigenlijk hetzelfde als ik eerdergenoemde D'Angelo schreef. En een uur is echt teveel voor me van dit soort muziek, dus ik ga wederom een 3 geven.

Pagaliau po tokio ilgo streak nuobodybių, kažkas funkyyyy grįžo, žiauriai gerai ausims. Geras balsas, gera kokybė, bosiukas mhmmm.

I'm not a staunch R&B fan, and this album didn't move me in the way I wished it would. 4/10

Du bon gros r&b sale. Le côté smooth des 90s. J'ai particulièrement aimé 'til the cops come knockin' J'espère qu'il a été plus sage que R Kelly

Du r&b sexy comme je les aime.

Another surprise. Pretty good.

Much like a steely dan venture this album is so smooth it’s basically frictionless

Never heard of this guy/album before, but it sounds like a deliberate doppelganger for Barry-White-esque smooth loving soul. Which, if you're in the mood could be great. And if you're not in the mood....three stars and NEXT!

Solid 4.

It’s fine. It’s not really a genre that I enjoy that much

Yeh, fine, got a lot better through the middle. Better than Pink fucking Floyd at least!

Inject this in my bloodstream. Listening to Maxwell sing is like having the smoothest silk wrapped around you.

Never heard of it. But from the top, it's very appealing to listen to - smooth and clear, I'm comfortable with the old-school instrumentation, and I'm here for the funk. I have a quick read of Wikipedia: so this is neo-soul? I'm liking it more than other neo-soul I've been exposed to. But, when we get to side 2, I’m not liking the spacious downtempo as much as I liked the uptempo on side 1. Overall, it seems skilful and well done, but I don’t expect to replay. It’s Good, 7/10.

Great funk/r&b

favs: the urban theme welcome ascension (don’t ever wonder) dancewitme the suite theme rating 2.1/5

This is what soul transmits after everything loses some kind of personality and it just tries to be smooth, delicate and pretty bland, to be honest. I do not feel anything with this album, it is very ethereal (not sonically, but literally) and it does not stick in any sense. The songs go on, some are better, some are worse, but there is nothing thrilling about it, there is nothing interesting about it, there is nothing moving about it. It is just polished, somewhat sexual and very well produced, yet it lacks of something more confrontational, something more original. It feels like background, it does not tell me anything, and it could be whatever album that sounds exactly like this one, I would not mind. So, it is good, but nothing spectacular, nothing exciting, nothing to highlight. It is just it. An insipid album that at least is pleasant to listen to.

Beautiful smooth music. This is what you want on in the bedroom, not Marvin Gaye. Everyone THINKS you want Marvin Gaye, but you really don't if you pay attention to the lyrics. This is smooth, jazzy, booty knockin' music. Up until you get to "... Til The Cops Come Knockin'". That's a whole different vibe, and just pretend it's not about light domestic imprisonment and it's really about being so lost in each other the world falls away and nothing else matters. It's good, though. And that album art is wack with the barcode in the middle. My Rating: 4/5

Smooth. Feels like the 70s in the 90s. Not bad

I mean I don’t know what to say here. Yeah it’s urban music as the title expresses. Just seemed super generic. Cool spots. Sounded good. But nothing k ever need to experience again

Brilliantly textured background music, which is what I believe it is designed to be

It occasionally gets a little squishy for my liking, as on the smooth jazz-esque opening track, but it mostly finds its silky groove and had me rummaging for my man-thong, robe and snifter of Hennessy. You need a dimly lit room with lots of candles, comfy furniture and your bae for this one. Heavily indebted to Marvin Gaye.

I mean, it's well made, but this sounds like music for date night for 60 year olds who used to be hep.

The 90’s Neo-Soul revival produced a lot really talented artists. Maxwell, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Raphael Sadie, India Arie… were producing great records and seemed to be in step with a lot of the Hip Hop coming out at the time, but didn’t sustain long term mainstream popularity. A lot of the artists didn’t like the Neo Soul label and most were more interested in making more experimental music than cranking out hits. Several artists, Hill, D’Angelo and Badu becoming so disenchanted with the business that they self exiled completely. The money it takes to create records that musicians who want to make art vs. the relatively inexpensive overhead to make Hip Hop and R&B records really wounded these artists and that’s sad. Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite is a lush, mellow and sexy record. It was just a little out of sync with culture, competing with cheaper production of Hip Hop and more dance oriented R&B and the direction the music business was headed. 4.3

🎶bang bang Maxwell's urban hang suite🎶

zelfs als muzikaal behang zou ik dit van de muren trekken

Opening number “The Urban Theme” sounds like a movie score, which I think is probably the intent. I mistook “Sumthin, Sumthin” for a date number until I realized he probably wasn’t getting that woman based on the lyrics. It’s easy to get work done while listening to it, which means it doesn’t have enough oomph to make me stop and want to listen to the lyrics. “The Suite Theme” had an intro that perked up my ears. Not my go to choice for music, but no denying that it’s a well structured album packed with talented people.

Schön groovy/souly. Zweite Hälfte vom Album aber leider schwächer als der Anfang 3.5/5

This was a thoroughly chilled and, yes, smooooth record which sadly diminished somewhat over time. Individually all the tracks are super nice and easy-listening, but it's all very similar over a long run-time, and ultimately it's a little bit much in one sitting so it loses some points. 3.5 rounded down.

Great vibes, undone a bit meandering songs that don't have memorable choruses.

I’d had something else in mind when it came to Maxwell, so it wasn’t a let-down. Three stars…

In one ear out the other.

Uh... Did I just have sex?

Smooth, pleasant & forgettable. ★★★

Chill sounds abound. Long drag.

3/5

This was funky but way too horny

An excellent R&B album with soul, passion, and fun. Does a fantastic job of blending emotion with some high quality music lines for a very enjoyable listen from start to finish. All around quality

Can't say as I'm familiar with this, but it's got a lot of the things I like about Soul without most of the things I don't like. And that band smokes.

Jeezus Harry H Corbett, how the actual fuck is this one of the top 1,001 albums of all time? It's so... nothing, the music is made of Vaseline. I forgot I was listening to it even while it was playing. Personality-free. If it had been made last week I would have assumed it had been made by some kid in a bot farm in Bangalore with Suno in order to make a few rupees from Spotify royalties. To be fair, people will listen to any old crap, but count me out!

★★★☆☆ I had never heard this album before and it was a nice surprise. It has a really good mix of soul, R&B and funk, and the groove grabbed me pretty quickly. It definitely sounds very 90s, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. My biggest issue is that at 58 minutes it started to wear on me. The first half had me thinking this could easily be a 4 star album, but toward the end the songs started blending together and I felt like I had gotten everything I needed from it. Still, this is exactly why I do this challenge. I probably never would've listened to Maxwell otherwise, and I enjoyed this quite a bit. **3 stars.**

Nice voice.

Ok

A landmark neo-soul album that nods to tons of classic R&B, but with a production style that sounds clean and crisp, almost to a fault. Really, some wrinkles here and there would've been fine, but what's most needed is a bit of time cuts across some songs. Awesome otherwise.

Props that this is his debut album and he put so much work into it. However I did vibe with this one as much as I did to the others. I’m sure I’ll give it another listen though.

It’s groovy and soulful in a way that seems more contrived than, say D’Angelo. It just seems like Maxwell was trying to deliver to a brief and not from the soul. Perhaps too polished?

90s funk, soul. Smooth lounge music.

*It started off great with lots of jazz influenced sounds, but then got less interesting as the album went on.

more like "b'landgelo" am i right?? or d'blandgelo??? it's whateva

Great lounge slash Saturday morning mix

What's with all the sexy hip hop lately.

Smooth as butter. Intimate, low-key and remarkably sexy.

Very well done. Enjoyed this a lot.

Love the vocals and the neo soul vibes. I dig this era of music, though this album gets a bit schlocky toward the end.