Depends on how they say it, but yeah it can leave a bad taste. In Townsend’s case I find it amusing, partly because the songs of his he thinks are great are complete turds (like English Boy off whatever solo album that was). It’s funny to see how one of the greatest songwriters of his generation actually has no idea what makes a song good.
That said, “Chinese Eyes” is one of my favorite albums of all time. It’s much better than any of Pete’s other solo albums.