Staff Letters: Phil

...All the shots I take, what difference did I make?...

Jesus, what a month. Its been very busy. St. Anger has arrived, I had a house warming party, my house is coming together, and I'm about to buy a new car! (Details and pictures whenever that happens). So lets start with a few words on St. Anger. First and foremost, I think its a great album. I like different songs different amounts, and I'm still adjusting to certain things - but all in all, I like this album. The production took me a while to get used to. In general I now like it. I like the idea, and I like the feel. I think they might have overdone it a bit, but that's OK. Just like with Load and Reload - they wanted to expirament... and they DID! The expiramented a LOT! Which I think was GREAT. I love those albums, but man was it different from what I expected. After the Load twins, they looked at their expiramentation and took what they wanted with them - and some of that is in St. Anger. Similarly, I think they'll look at St. Anger and on their next album, they'll probably choose parts of the "rough" feel that they like and keep it, and other things will change. Metallica doesn't generally try things half-assed. They wanted a rough-4-guys-in-a-garage feeling, and they achieved it. And I think that takes guts, and I respect it. I even like it. Personally, I could have done with a little but more post-production... but I like it as-is. The songs ROCK. And the odd thing about this album is that if you take away the vocals, the riffs seem even heavier. Different songs. Add in the vocals, and bam! New cool songs as well. People have been complaining about James' vocals, but I'm loving them. Lots of singing, lots of chances, lots of putting himself out there - and he's very successful way more often then not. Granted, a few times he's not quite on key, and his voice cracks a few times (some of which I believe are actually on purpose), but all in all, I like what he did with the vocals. The lyrics certainly are mind-blowing. Wow. And I can't get over the riffs. Wow. The only song that I'm not as impressed by as the other sare My World. I really like some parts of it, but as a whole it doesn't hit me like the rest. But then again I never liked Hero of the Day until I heard it live, and now I love it. OK, so that's enough of that. What else? Oh yeah, the Fillmore show! Aside from the drunk assholes that made the show as much work as it was fun, the show was one of the best! The band was 150% energy, and happy as hell. What an experience! I can't wait for this tour! And hearing St. Anger ROCKED (I heard Frantic at mtvICON which was just as cool). Hmm. Oh yeah, I'm single these days. Yes, that's right ladies - this hot stud (geeky computer dork?) is available for your long hours of sexual pleasure! =) Oh, so I leave for my Metallica road trip on July 1st. If you haven't seen my itinerary, check it out here. Its pretty fucked up! During my absence, I will have little to no internet access, so be good. I'll make sure someone is around to keep up the news. What else? Oh yeah... I LOVE MY JOB! Here's a shout out to my coworkers, my bosses, and everyone else I work for, with, or around! You all are awesome! I can't wait to go to work in the morning. I love what I do. It is absolutely the coolest job ever! On a side note, thanks to Jason, Josh, and Chet, I owe you all one. I'm starting to get my house in order. Its hard work to get a house the way you want it!! Man, so much to be done, and so little time to do it. I got most of it, the rest of the stuff is minor - its very home-y and livable now - but lots of little things I'd still like to do. Well, I think that's about it for me. See you on the road! Phil

GOOD St. Anger Fillmore show New house New car (coming this week) Metallica road trip coming r00t BAD Being poor after giving the car dealership all of your money MOVIES The Recruit Bruce Almighty The Matrix Reloaded

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