MovieChat Forums > Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Discussion > I HATE Phil Towle, the 'performance coac...

I HATE Phil Towle, the 'performance coach'


I HATED Metallica's "performance coach" Phil Towle. Towle previously held a clinical social worker license in Kansas. However, the board revoked his license after one of Towle's psychotherapy clients filed a complaint with the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board. The complaint alleged he urged her to continue therapy after she decided to end it. The board investigated and, among other alleged violations, cited Towle for 'continuing treatment when it was not beneficial to the client' and 'failing to terminate the social work relationship.' As a result, Towle no longer refers to himself as a 'therapist' but as a 'performance coach' - though he is often erroneously referred to as a therapist.

Towle's main goal with Metallica seemed to be justifying his services. He did not maintain professional boundaries. He seemed very manipulative. I would not pay that maggot to shine my shoes.

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I LOVED how once Phil was working for them, they couldn't seem to fire him!! He was one slippery operator.

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You hit the nail right on the head.

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Phil is a douche...
Did you see in one of the segments he handed James a blue post-it with "lyrics" he came up with?? He knew nothing about music yet he was back there nodding to the beat, whatever you leech.
I was so glad when Lars stood up to him on behalf of James. James was vulnerable as well during that time with his own issues. I was so glad when Phil was gone.

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Phil Towle may have been trying to get co-writing credits for Metallica songs. That could have been worth a fortune. I heard that Metallica rehired Towle after the movie. I really hope they didn't. Towle looked a lot like the late Eugene Landy. He was the psychologist who exploited Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys.

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I'm truly shocked they fell for that guy.

I agree with you, if he was able to get some lyrics in, even one lousy line, he could go after the band. He's a mooch, he knows what he is doing.

Remember jefgg to "Zone It!" LOL

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Towle met James when he was weak and vulnerable. Timing is everything.

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As a Brit I think it was ludicrous they hired him in the first place!

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The very idea of having a head shrinker around a supposedly badass metal band, is kind of embarrassing. And forget the as-hole Ulrich and the often obnoxiously bratty Hetfield - this fraud of a psychologist, laying about there like some big shot while seemingly harboring aspirations to effectively become the 5th member of the band, was easily the most annoying dude they had around there. And what exactly did he DO, anyway, besides uttering banalities?



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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I agree with everything you wrote. But I would like to add that I think there is a time and a place for professional counseling. And Phil Towle was NOT a professional. Aerosmith used the services of a counselor to sober up in the '80s. I heard Megadeth and some other bands used psychiatrists to settle their differences. But some bands got involved with quacks. Eugene Landy was hired to help a mentally ill Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys. Landy totally violated his professional relationship with Wilson to manage his career and co-write his songs. Landy lost his license to practice psychology because of his actions. Paul Stanley of KISS saw a psychiatrist Jesse Hilsen in the '70s. Then Hilsen tried to become manager of the band. Hilsen later got in trouble for other misdeeds.

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I guess you`re right about there being a time and place for counseling. But here the scenes with Towle did indeed almost come across as "unused footage from This Is Spinal Tap" as some critic quipped. It`s bizarrely hilarious when the dude just keeps refusing to leave the band alone.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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have you ever seen the parody Metalocalypse did of him? it was so hilarious!
I know some people hate the cartoon but i would recommend only that one episode, they make fun of the Towle and made fun of Metallica as well

just look at this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjDhlYczMfU

or this song... omg hahaha their clothes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP0bQy03PCM

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Metallica deserve to be mocked. They were once a great band. Then they became a pathetic joke.

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It was so evident since the first few minutes of the film. The guy did what no psychologist should ever do: Lead the patients.

He was suggesting things, he was offering his own thoughts, that's the biggest no-no, it's not only inappropriate, but it can also end up being extremely unethical.
Some Psychiatrists still use Psychoanalysis based techniques to work with patents, even if they have been shown to lack scientific evidence, and even when modern and evidence based tools are available.

That man was very dangerous, but it seems to me most of when the most aggressive manipulation occurred was edited.

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I think the main reason they employed Phil Towle was because he had previously worked with Rage Against The Machine, they actually ended up splitting so make of that what you will.

Hetfield after being initially hesitant bought into it big time although his state of mind at the time clearly had a lot to do with that. What is very uncomfortable to watch in the film is when they feel they dont need him anymore and he is desperately trying to hang on as long as possible. There is surely something ethically wrong with that.

The main issue in Metallica aside from alcohol etc was always the constant ego battle between Hetfield and Ulrich and their relationship had deteriorated to the point where they could no longer communicate properly so something had to give.

My thoughts on Metallica the band actually having to go as far as hiring a therapist/performance coach/buffer are very mixed. It reflects badly on them and how out of touch they were with each other and maybe reality but yet ultimately they are still together so for them they would say it was the right choice. Maybe if a group like GNR had tried something similar they would still be together.

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From what I know, most international conflicts require experts to work on generating better communication strategies in order to prevent the situation from escalating, same goes for situations that need experts in mediation, like when there are hostages involved. When 9/11 occurred the USA government called a very important psychologist named Bandura to get advice in how to handle the situation.

Personally I don’t think it was a problem that Metallica hired somebody to help, but he wasn’t a professional, and definitely not an ethical person.
Both psychology and psychiatry are full of people who do have the right credentials but are there only to gain control of their patients. This is common with fortune tellers as well.

The people who need help or are vulnerable can’t be expected to do anything about it, I think it should be up to medical boards or ethics committees to stop them.

As for GN´R, it would have been awesome if their record company had gotten somebody to help them before Izzy left. But for some reason it seems nobody cares if musicians fill themselves up with drugs and alcohol. They are disposable and new bands with young kids appear all the time.
A7X is my best example, they can’t play to save their lives, but they look cool and that’s all it matters these days.

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Towle sure was milking Metallica's tit. $40,000 a month is not too shabby.

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If we learnt anything from Monster it's that Metallica are not very bright.

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