I have seen some REALLY nasty comments posted on other forums. And wars were started by "experts" because of someone's opinion. They are opinions, after all.

I like to listen to people's music as a listener first, not as a musician. If a critique is requested, and I find something I consider out of kilter, I find it best to preface my comments with something like,..."for my tastes, if it was me", or "I prefer", or maybe even echo a previous poster on what I considered a weak point. I don't consider myself to be qualified enough to say something is "good" or "bad", except in the realm of whether I like it or not.

As a personal example:
I posted a song a few years back. One of the responses was something like, "Before you post a blues song, you should learn how to play the blues. That wasn't even close." I got nothing from that. Maybe if he said, " I would have preferred a different feel during...., or you might want to try revolving around this scale..., or "many, if not most players I've heard, do this..... on something like that"

It's not what is being said. It's how it's said.
The person who critiques that "IT SUCKED"!!!, is the same guy who get's pissed when you critique his response.

www.mickemery.com