Aye, I picked up Fruity Loops once. Had fun doing... nothing, then stopped. :P

Yeah, it's bewildering. You get used to it if you can be bothered though. Try Music 2000 first, it's like a cut-down version of that.

I prefer Reason, probably because I've just had practice with it, and I'm accustomed to it. it WAS difficult at first, but i stuck with it, and here I am now, with the full version and a song on my userpage (hint hint)

true, it takes a bit of experience to get good with it. it's a compromising battle between what you want to do and what you are able to do. i find it helps to just collect and create your own samples. or to at least start more than one project at once, and eventually you'll get something tolerable. personally i think you got a good ear for melody making anyway. that's not easy to do.
i find it'se best used in conjunction with a program like cooledit2000 for post production, that's when the real magic happens.