Boy! Judging by the very insightful and well-articulated responses, it seems this may have been a latent subject that has been stewing in the back of a lot of member's minds. I feel that there is enough thought-provoking material here to provide a guide for most of us as to how to respond (or not respond) to poor quality musical offerings. The keywords seem to be COURTESY and HONESTY (and in some cases, SILENCE)......but not false platitudes. I have personally learned the hard way not to do that. Since some of the posts included some great stories involving personal experience with this subject, I'll share one of mine. Early in our marriage, I made the mistake of praising everything my wife cooked, even if it was awful (which a lot of it was back then). Being a very organized person, she would make notes and comments beside every recipe she tried; things like, "MAKE AGAIN, HE LOVES IT". After gagging over it several more times but not having the courage to tell her, I finally resorted to going into her cookbook, drawing a line through her comments and replacing it with "NO HE DOESN'T, HE HATES IT". After a few dinners consisting of Corn Flakes and skim milk and silence, we both agreed that perhaps honesty really is the best policy. Consequently, I no longer have to eat Brussel Sprouts, Brocolli, Liver, (fill in the blanks). Thanks for the great responses, I think it was cathartic (sp) for all of us...plus, did you notice; for such a long thread, not a single disagreement. Seems like having to think first before responding, brings out the civility in us.

Peace,

chas