^um, what? you dont make any sense.

I think APC and Tool have completely different sounds and feels and can't really be compared. And i agree that their song writing is solid (Tool's). I can't imagine listening to Tool and being disappointed with that aspect of their music...

Inever liked NIN or TMV very much either, i cant knock anything they've written they just bore me.

It's an acquired taste to the extreme. Tool have two crucial aspects to them that separate them from most (and bordering on all) mainstream rock: highly complex polyrhythmic arrangements, and very gradual build-ups of energy and tension within songs. Maybe three crucial aspects if you include the dark, doom atmospherics. If somebody's mind reacts well to any one of those things, chances are they'll like Tool a whole lot. The rest won't understand what the fuss is about.

It sounds awfully silly, but it really IS all down to how the individual's mind works.

You missed out the 4th option.

That being the listener understands all that and just doesn`t think it`s done very well. Which is the catagory I fit into. I can 'get' into bands a lot more inaccessable than Tool. With Tool I just don`t see the point. I find them boring.

No. My 3 options had nothing to do with understanding or NOT understanding it, nor accessibility (Tool, by all accounts, are fairly accessible really, compared to what's offered outside of the mainstream scene). It had to do with how the mind REACTS to those particular things. Your mind finds little or no satisfaction in what Tool has and DOES offer. Hence you don't likle Tool.

I also tend to think, incidentally, that even though I agree that few people will end up liking Tool much, 99%+ of those who say they are boring etc. have never really listened to their main records a few times through, all the way through. Maybe one listen at the max., which isn't even enough for Tool fans to like it much. Of course there are exceptions who have given it a fair go and didn't like it.

NIN and Tool, I think r loner music. They will mostly appeal to people who enjoy being alone. I love being alone. People always say, 'don't u get tired of being alone?' but they're forgetting there's a big difference between being alone and being lonely. If u ever feel lonely, then you probably don't know yourself well enough. I cherish the moments I'm alone, and around people, well generally not. It seems like u hav to wear a mask to fit into this world. Me, being the person that makes me most comfortable doesn't seem to fit into this world as well. I'm curious as to how not being myself can seem to make more people comfortable, and leaves me feeling worse at the end of the day. Anyway, anyone who reads this and knows what I'm talking about, it's cool to b alone, when combined w/ meditation and spirituality it's the best way to get to know yourself.

I disagree, in fact I believe spirituality ruins lives. I could not imagine being half of who I am if I decided to be spiritual. However, I do spend a lot of time alone and I typically spend it listening to music or thinking about politics or religion. Neither have anything to do with spirituality but more to do with exercising the brain.

^

I agree, I spend a fair of amount of time alone, mainly out of necessity, because I am a people person above all else. But my time spent alone is centered around music, writing to music, reading to music, or thinking about philosophy, scientific theory, or why someone acted the way they did (never politics, I can't really stand to even think about politics, too depressing) while listening to music.

Meditation bugs me, emptying your mind of all thought is a task that seems impossible to me and totally useless.

What doesnt make any sense?

See , this is the kind of arrogant Tool fan propaganda that i`ve had to listen to for the past 10 years and is exactly what I was talking about. Like somehow it`s MY fault because I have not listened to them properly or enough times to see what is so brilliant about what they do.

Personally I happen to like Radiohead , now I realise there are people who don`t like them , and I can see why. I can understand that people might think Thom Yorkes vocals are a bit whiney , I can understand if people are put off by the electronica that they do now as opposed to the guitar rock they used to be known for. I don`t start making excuses how it`s their own fault for not listening to them enough or they`re not listening to them properly (whatever the hell that is supposed to mean).

I like how you say 'Of course there are exceptions'. I would suggest the number of people who don`t like them AND have given them a listen is a lot more higher than you might think.