Background:
I've been chatting with a guy who works on my university campus. So far, it's been brief chats during transactions, so we haven't gotten in depth into the getting-to-know-you stuff. However, we've talked about meeting up to hang out and talk more when we both have time. I did know that he's a musician who's been busy working on an album...and therein lies the problem. He just told me today that he'd been finishing up the album, so I asked about it and got the name of his group to look up on itunes. I listened to some of the samples. I really wanted to like it, but I don't. It's a genre I usually don't listen to, and the songwriting and vocals really aren't my style at all. They're probably fine for this genre (the album's few reviews so far are very positive), but very, very different from the music I enjoy. Now I'm wondering what to say about the music next time we talk. His music is obviously important to him and bringing out an album is a huge accomplishment. I want to say something nice about the music, but I don't want to stretch the truth and have it sound false.*
Short background:
A guy I'm getting to know just brought out an album. The music is seriously not my style. I'm going to talk to him soon and I'm not sure what to say.
The question:
So, what do you say to an artist when you just don't like their work? What do you say to acknowledge an artist's accomplishment when you can't properly appreciate the finished product? (The background is my reason for asking at this particular moment, but I'm throwing it out here as a more general question.)
*BTW, I am planning to listen again later to see if it strikes me differently the second time around. The style wasn't what I expected (like I said, I have very little experience with this genre), so it might sound better once I go back without preconceptions of what it "should" sound like. I hope I'll find a song or two I like better or something else good to comment on.