Never listened to Tool before, got no streaming radio station.. but yeah, I fit the "other option" :)

I definitely fit that criteria. I still have to see them live some day...

I don't mind Tool, but i prefer A Perfect Circle.

Don't listen to metal anywhere near as much as I did when i was a kid. It's mostly Industrial, Dubstep or other electronica these days.

Music helps drown out other peoples conversations while i'm working.

They're my favourite band too; I have all their CD's and have seen them live a few times. I smuggled in a DSLR and took these pics just a few months ago when they came to Melbourne

I do like listening to them while working too. Recently during work days, I've been using a pandora station that was seeded with Tool and Explosions in the Sky.

Interesting hypothesis... I've noticed in general a decent correlation between programmers in general and the metal genre (I'd probably call Tool 'prog metal' rather than 'rock', though I do often see them referred to as alt-rock or prog-rock).

They're my favourite band too; I have all their CD's and have seen them live a few times. I smuggled in a DSLR and took these pics just a few months ago when they came to Melbourne

Nice - thanks for sharing :) I've seen them a few times, but they don't come around to the Detroit area very often anymore :( Perhaps once their next album comes out we'll see them again...

Overall it looks like it is either a love or hate relationship among the responses here. Even so, I'm happy to know that there is a following out there with the same interests that I have :)

I’m not so into metal and I don’t think I have heard any of their things, or it was equally forgotten if I have.

To answer the question, I am #1 and not #2.

The music to which I listen when I program changes depending on my mood, but They Might Be Giants are the most frequent.

L. Spiro

Well, since this is now in the lounge, I'll say that I really like Tool (awesome shots, Hodgman), but my interest in graphics programming has waned considerably :)

I often find in life that people with common interests generally share more than one common interest. When I come across someone who shares one interest, but only one, the relationship generally doesn't last long. Might be some kind of uncanny valley there. That being said, their music, and heavy music or progressive music as general cases, are not always appreciated by the masses. 8 minute epics are either for you, or not for you. I am a huge prog fan, and Tool is likely my favorite band(So hard to choose). I've seen them 3 times, APC once, and puscifer last year. I find Maynard to be a fascinating character, and he is one of the few celebs who's brain I would like to pick. A true renaissance man.

For those who have not had the opportunity to experience them,

Heavy music or progressive music as general cases, are not always appreciated by the masses. 8 minute epics are either for you, or not for you.

I don't agree with that. I like Yes, who has some 20 minute tracks. I love Soft Machine (prog/fusion whatever rock) with many >10 minute tracks. I love King Crimson, that is progressive and sometimes heavy, and has many >8 minute tracks. Voivod and Frank Zappa has some complex songs and definitely not for the masses (except for Frank's parody music stuff). I like early Genesis too. So I can say I love progressive music.

My problem with Tool is not the lengthiness, or epicness itself. Maybe my problem with Tool and similar prog bands is that I feel they are trying too hard to be epic for the epicness, to be complex for the complexness, and progressive for the sake of progressiveness. Plus somehow they perfect the crap their studio albums until they become totally sterile for me.

But it's just my opinion, I just wanted to say that you can't draw any conclusions about someone's taste of music just from him/her not liking a particular (and quite widely known and popular from a genre) band.

Heavy music or progressive music as general cases, are not always appreciated by the masses. 8 minute epics are either for you, or not for you.

I don't agree with that. I like Yes, who has some 20 minute tracks. I love Soft Machine (prog/fusion whatever rock) with many >10 minute tracks. I love King Crimson, that is progressive and sometimes heavy, and has many >8 minute tracks. Voivod and Frank Zappa has some complex songs and definitely not for the masses (except for Frank's parody music stuff). I like early Genesis too. So I can say I love progressive music.

My problem with Tool is not the lengthiness, or epicness itself. Maybe my problem with Tool and similar prog bands is that I feel they are trying too hard to be epic for the epicness, to be complex for the complexness, and progressive for the sake of progressiveness. Plus somehow they perfect the crap their studio albums until they become totally sterile for me.

But it's just my opinion, I just wanted to say that you can't draw any conclusions about someone's taste of music just from him/her not liking a particular (and quite widely known and popular from a genre) band.

I assume you meant perfect the crap out of their studio albums, which I would disagree with to a degree as well. As I said, I'm a huge fan of prog in general, and yes, genesis, Crimson, Zappa are all welcomed in my library... but... you don't like tool? There is that uncanny valley I was talking about {snicker snicker}