Thanks for the input guys.... Marty, remember sounding pretty is not as simple as its been made to seem. As I said before, BIAB can sound good ish, or even great ish, but maybe not as great ish, as stuff you hear on the radio, which is the competition.

Back to the OP, I think it is possible to discern between what is good and what you like, but they do cross over into each other.

But, lets take Beethoven, Mozart, ... any of those greats, we know they are great, we know how amazing their compositions were, we know how well studied and musically spot on they are.... but do we like listening to it? Ill be honest, I never listen to any of them, and dont really like it, Jazz musicians blow me away at how musical they are, and how much practice and dedication it takes to get to that level, I see the greatness in it, but do I love listening to it?

Also think if somebody posted a dance tune, as some have, I have no interest in it, but I think I can still tell if its good or not. The basics of sounding like chit, no matter what genre, are always there.

But you can also understand...ok this guy is trying for a dance hit, let me not interfere by saying the melody needs work, or compare it to my standard of great.... aha..... maybe thats it. We can still look at it from a point of view of "is this song or track up to the standard of similar tunes in that genre...."

Think I got it! ive always done that anyway. Id be the wrong guy to tell somebody if their speed metal song is good, but I can still tell if the guy has any talent, or wasting his time. or advise more practice!