I love him and I love his music but not his CD. Now what?

The thing is, do you want to have friends that you don't tell the truth to? Yeah classic classic CLASSIC false dichotomy there. No one is suggesting being dishonest. But there's being honest like a caring friend, and being brutally honest at the wrong time, like a dick. And timing is a huge deal. If he's been in the studio for months or even years on this, he is incredibly stressed out and vulnerable. NOW IS NOT THE TIME for any kind of negativity or criticism. If you really feel you must, maybe in a couple of months. NOT NOW. I have directed live theatrical shows before, and when it didn't go great, I knew it. TRUST ME. But that didn't mean I wanted to hear that from my friends on the night. I was exhausted, vulnerable, and barely keeping it together. What I needed from people right then was either "yeah man that was great, I liked X" or to just keep quiet. Most artists are more aware of their own shortcomings than anyone. It's not that you can never be critical, but timing and sensitivity are a huge deal.

"Man, you're playing great, but it seems a little overproduced to me." What's the problem?

Something along the lines of: "You know how much I love your music, but I wasn't expecting such a clean, produced sound. I think your music is better served by a more raw, less polished production, but that's just my preference and your talent shines through regardless." Be honest, but be gentle. Be knowledgeable, but allow for the possibility you might be missing something.

This is such a classic problem, the "be honest with your friends" situation. No, I disagree - this isn't about telling someone his jeans make his butt look big. This is providing feedback to an artist. And the key here is figuring out what kind of feedback the artist is looking for - sometimes it's "what do you think I could do to make this better," sometimes it's "please tell me I'm not a failure," and sometimes it's "please tell me you still love me." Making the wrong call as to which one you're being asked to give can be incredibly hurtful and damaging to the relationship.

Whatever you say, you can cut the drama. You act like making a mediocre cd is HORRIBLE TO BE EMBARRASSED ABOUT AND HE SHOULD BE ASHAMED. He shouldn't. We all fail, it's not a big deal. I don't know that he even failed, you just don't like it. So simmer down and be happy that he's in the position to do this, it's a pretty incredible opportunity even if he didn't get it right the first time. Also, make sure you don't come off as jealous, that's the biggest tripwire here.

I'm firmly in the camp that if you're friend has something stuck in their teeth then you better tell that friend that he looks goofy before he goes and meets his girlfriends parents. So yeah, be honest but break the news with feathers.

Has this person spent thousands of dollars getting copies of the CD printed? Has he started selling them yet? Has he sent them around to agents/labels/other important people? If the answer to all of these questions is "no," then definitely tell him ASAP what you really think. If some of these get a "yes," it's a lot stickier situation. I guess you have to figure out what your motivations are in telling him that you don't like it. Are you trying to save him from looking bad in front of [the public / the industry / etc.], then only say something if your words have a chance of preventing that. If you just feel an overwhelming need to be honest even though it won't help him, maybe it would be worth holding back? You could always mention next time he wants to work on an album that you thought the studio environment didn't capture the life in his music as well as it could have last time, and make suggestions for a different approach. If you do say something to him, you've done a really good job in your question above of phrasing it. You're not critical of him or his music. You just don't think this particular recording does him justice.

Oh, hey, here's a real-world example. A friend of mine sunk a lot of time and energy (and money) into directing a short film, and I don't enjoy it. I really, truly, don't. In my opinion it isn't very good. However, the opening sequence is fantastic and terrific and well-directed, and (to me) stands out. I have no idea what other people think of the film, and frankly, for forming my opinion it doesn't matter. So, when he screened it at parties and whatnot, and I spoke to him after, I praised the opening, truthfully and sincerely: "The way you directed the opening, and the graphics, really work; I love the opening, it is fantastic, and I hope you do more stuff like that." That sort of thing. Fast forward several months, and he's just completed another short film, a music video -- and the entirety of it is similar to the opening of the short film (not in concept or content, but in the storytelling method used and the lack of having to direct speaking actors.) You know what? It's amazing. And now I have the pleasure of honestly telling him so. I truly hope he continues down the path of doing this type of work, because he's very good at it, much much moreso than at directing speaking actors. Had he followed through on my short film comments to say "yes, but what about the rest?" I would have been honest and said something like "Honestly, I think the opening is a lot better than the rest, and I probably would have made some different choices if it were me, but then, if it were me the film never would have gotten made in the first place", and if he still pressed for honest feedback I would have talked to him about the dialog pacing, awkward blocking and expressionless faces -- which I would have contrasted with one scene in the middle (in which he had a professional actor, thankfully) that had none of those problems. But he didn't ask, and who the hell am I to volunteer negativity without being asked? Hope this helps.

Well the record is done, right? He's not going to go back and change it now? Then criticism is not really helpful. There's no need to lie. I was taught, you don't have to say you loved, or liked, something if you didn't. But nothing is so terrible you can't find one thing you honestly liked *about* it. Find the things you like, and tell him about those. If he asks you honest opinion about the production than yeah, tell him your opinion, that it's not to your personal taste. Because music is subjective, and from the limited info I have, this sounds more like it's about your preference for lo-fi "reallness" than anything objectively wrong with the music.