as far as i see it, APC is maynards commercial endeavour. hence the interviews. with tool the main message maynard sends out is that ppl shud think for themselves, and NOT idolise him. this is why he has no lighting on him at concerts and never gives interviews when in Tool.

however he has no lighting on him at APC gigs and yet he still publices the fact that hes in the band through interviews (namely kerrang etc). so i dont get that bit. but i jst like the band cos of the music not cos of maynard anyways, truth be told i liked APC a lot when their first album came out but although their 2nd album was a bit disapointing it still had some strong tracks on it. anyway, im jst happy they finally toured scotland so i could go see em. jst waiting for Tool to come back here now (give it another couple of years!)

as for Tool's future i think maynard is either releasing 1 more album with APC or is going straight back to Tool, so i expect some new stuff from Tool soonish.

and as the music style goes, from what i can tell they change it every album changing with current general tastes in music. you can easily see this in the progression from aenima to lateralus. and this is also evident in the artwork too. clever selling strategy if nothing less