diplomatic way to handle opionions on artist

[1960 tele]

who you dont think of as entertaining/cool/interesting,just basically what is the nice way to pass over your opionion of the folks/musicians/artist whose music you personally dont care for when their name/music/speciffic song comes up in conversation.just wondering what other players do when your in a situation and your opionion/view on other musicians comes up? i know we are taught that if you cant say anything nice the say nothing at all but in reality that does not happen cause we all got likes dislikes etc/and most folk liks to speak their mind. right? just wondering.

[PeteMac]

When that sort of thing comes up, I usually go for "soft truth".

" . . . yeah, I've heard a bit of his/her/their stuff, but it's really not my thing . . . "

You get the idea.

[sax4blues]

Originally Posted by 1960 tele

who you dont think of as entertaining/cool/interesting,

What you are listing here seem to be useful, conversational expressions. Maybe predicated with, "for me... or for the style of music I like".

The problems come, and this happens a lot here as any forum, when we say something like, "John Mayer can't play", or "Henry Garza is just another SRV wanna be".

I wouldn't think a bar fight would break out if you said, "I listened to John Mayer and for me his playing is not very interesting". And if your really want to converse with someone then follow on with, "but for my taste Henry Garza is so entertaining to watch live, kinda like he's channeling SRV meets Santana".

[JayFreddy]

Even the worst music you can imagine is better than a good war. No matter how bad the music gets, nobody dies.

I think your first instincts are correct: Say something nice, or nothing at all.

Usually I try to steer the conversation towards a similar band or artist that I do like. That help keeps the conversation positive and in context.

If pushed for a specific opinion of an artist whom I genuinely dislike, I can always say, "I've never heard anything by them that really worked for me..."

That keeps your options open, and gives the other party an opportunity to suggest something that you haven't heard yet, but which might change your mind.

If you're so closed minded that you're not open to any suggestions whatsoever, it's probably best to immediately change the subject to soemthing like fly fishing and/or motorcycle maintenance...

[Jakedog]

I just go for straight honesty. There are artists I can't stand to listen to, but I still have respect for their abilities, or a certain understanding of why other people like them. If that's the case, I say so.

There are other artists, who I just can't understand for life me that ANYONE would listen to. I just can't see a reason why anyone on earth with more than two functioning brain cells could find anything to like about them. If that's the case, I say so.

Other peoples opinions of me, or their opinions of my likes or dislikes, don't mean a thing to me. never have, and never will. So I just let 'er fly.

But this is in face to face conversation. On the net, I try to control myself as much as I can. I am smart enough to realize, that when someone asks for input, unless they specifically single me out by name, they are not asking me personally, and it's not a one on one face to face conversation. In these cases, one must consider how being comepletely honest will affect the entire body of the forum. In these cases, if I know what I have to say will cause a major s#1T storm, and lessen the experience for people I don't even know, and wasn't specifically addressing (because people on the net tend to take things, and themselves, ALL too seriously), I just go back to the main page and select another thread.

Mind you, in these cases, I still don't give a hoot what other people think of me or my opinions, I just don't see a reason to screw up everybody's day over my personal feelings. I wasn't asked personally, so I just keep my thoughts to myself. If I am however asked personally, look out, here it comes, for better or worse.

[Guran]

I think I usually use exressions like "You know, he just doesn't speak to me" or "I don't really understand what they say".

With few exceptions, I see it like it's me that doesn't like it, more than that it's bad musik.

[StratDal]

Be careful what you say about Eric Clapton on the Allman Brothers site! Some of the Claptoneasta's will call you just about every name in the book!

When it comes to tastes in entertainment, everyone has their own mojo. If someone asks and it's not for me, that's usually what I say...



and that they're full of crap!

[brokenjoe]

As a bartender in a live music venue, I see about 10 bands a week on average. This sort of thing comes up all the time. I've learned to diffuse the question for bands I don't care for by saying stuff like 'I'm just not into that kind of music', or 'I like what I like.... but what do I know?'

I could critique the band every time I get asked what I think -and I get asked a lot- but over the years I've learned to keep my opinions to myself. I'll certainly say something positive about bands I like, but for the others, I just clam up or avoid any kind of judgement call.

[ibobunot]

I just say it's not my cup of tea.





Unless it's Kenny G, Mikel Bolton, Céline Dion, etc. etc. then I mock them mercilessly....

[LuvN Guitars]

I don't see any problem with making the sorts of comments mentioned so far, but in my opinion there certainly isn't any need to totaly rubbish someone. In general I think the posts on this site are reasonable, as opposed to some sites I don't even bother with anymore where sweeping statements and flaming anyone who disagrees is the norm.

[barncat]

There's being honest, and then there's being a jerk. Being honest is just passing on information. Being a jerk is attacking someone.

[Brad Pittiful]

i say...im not into that or them

[Buckocaster51]

"He* just doesn't work for me."

Learned this from Charlie Ellis in January of 1991.

It is a comment that works for me.

*or She or It.

[Telehackster]

I once asked drummer friend of mine, the kind of guy who didn't like to say anything bad about other musicians, what he thought of a particular guitarist. Although I cannot remember who we were talking about, I will never forget my pal's reply: "Well, I've never heard anyone do what he does and do it better."

[kelnet]

I like to keep the statement focused on me, rather than on the artist. "I don't like that guy" or "You know, I've never really liked Hendrix's songs" is a statement about my tastes rather than a judgement of the artist's work.

[woodman]

diplomacy is the key — accentuate the positive when possible.

when i was learning electric guitar, practicing 8 hours a day or so, i asked one of my roommates how he thought my playing was coming along ... of course i realize now it sucked severely, but his comment was: "ya know, every now and then i'd hear a lick i liked!"

[bowlfreshener]

When I was a local tech, we would joke that "He/She/They are good at what they do, but what they do sucks."

[IdahoPicker]

I like Robert MacNamara's strategy as discussed in Fog of War; answer an undesirable question with the answer to a question you would have preferred. Example: "Do you like John Mayer?" Answer: "Well, I like Led Zeppelin".

This is more of a joke really, the best way to deal with these things has been stated a few times in this thread.

[telel6s]

Tell them their work is "breathtaking".



(See Seinfeld, The Hamptons, 1994)