Phillip Pickard, better known as Midnight Phil, was an internet personality who wrote, voice acted and blogged. However, he was mainly known for hosting a Video Review Show which focused mainly on Hard Rock bands such as Van Halen, Aerosmith and many others. Despite being a Caustic Critic at times, he could be very positive and praise the works he was reviewing. He's was also extremely hyper and over the top in his videos.
However due to ongoing Real Life issues with his career and housing situation, he posted
in November 2013 that he was going on indefinite hiatus but hoped to return at an unspecified future date. Since then no new updates have been forthcoming, his website has been parked, his video channel vanished when Blip.tv was shut down, his Twitter no longer exists and his Facebook fan page has also been taken down. For all practical purposes he has vanished from the internet and no archive of his work has been found.
Tropes
- Berserk Button: Van Halen III.
- Caustic Critic: While Phil often focused on the positive aspects of what he reviewed, this happened so often that he lampshaded it during his review of Music From Another Dimension.(on Aerosmith's "Out Go The Lights") You see, I'm not always a curmudgeon! Now THIS is good stuff!
- Imagine Spot: Used these as a Running Gag to create comedic versions of how some bands come up with their songs.
- Insult to Rocks: On Aerosmith's "We All Fall Down":Coldplay would be embarrassed to release something as creatively bankrupt as this banile lump of saccharine chord progression!
- Keet: Phil himself.
- He also voiced Joey Kramer and Michael Anthony as this.
- Running Gag: Had a few.
- Van Halen III. Crossed over with Berserk Button.
- There was usually a reference or Take That! to Sammy Hagar at some point.
- Was fond of using an Imagine Spot to create comedic versions of how certain songs were created.
- Liked playing the songs over things he felt appropriate and did this for songs he liked and disliked.
- Scare Chord: In an Imagine Spot in his review of Chickenfoot III, this played when Michael Anthony was shocked by a discovery of Sammy Hagar's.
- Take That!: Like any internet reviewer, he liked to use this quite a lot.
- He compared Van Halen with Sammy Hagar to being a sequel In Name Only. Cue the infamous "OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD" from Troll 2.
- After he called Michael Anthony one of the few truly charismatic bass players in rock & roll, we cut to a picture of Kip Winger being pushed aside for a picture of Michael Anthony.
- Described the opening riff to Aerosmith's "Legendary Child", which he calls the "cheesiest thing I've ever hear", as something which belongs in a Sonic The Hedgehog title screen.
- Two when talking about Aerosmith's "We All Fall Down". The first stating that Coldplay would be embarrassed to release "something as creatively bankrupt" as that song and the second being that it sounds like the music that plays over The CW trailers.
- Tempting Fate: Declared "Legendary Child" to be "one of the worst singles Aerosmith have ever released!". And then comes "What Could Have Been Love".
- Video Review Show
