later on. After visiting with several producers in Los Angeles including Josh Abraham, the band seized the opportunity to work with Bob Rock because they liked his work with artists such as Metallica and American Hi-Fi as well as his general passion for music. Raine was particularly convinced he wanted to work with Rock after watching A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, the documentary about the making of the Black Album. In the studio, they would even record with the same guitars and amplifiers used by Metallica as well as Pete Townshend and The Cult. They first visited Rock's Maui studio in September 2001 to meet him and even wrote and recorded a song while there. They returned to Hawaii in November 2001 after their last live show of the season at Music without Borders. They had initially booked ten days of studio time that month to record three tracks that would be included on a live album based on the Spiritual Machines tour. They began recording on the day of their arrival, laying down the initial tracks for "A Story About a Girl", which was written on the spot within 20 minutes after Raine heard Duncan and Jeremy tuning up in the next room. According to Taggart, the making of that song set the pace for the whole album. "He saw us as a rock band as soon as we got there, and the way we recorded it was live off the floor as a rock band as opposed to layering things," Maida stated. "He was a great leader who got the best out of us immediately". Metallica was originally scheduled to begin work on a new album with Rock in the following months but this was postponed when front man James Hetfield checked himself into rehab for alcohol abuse. Rock then asked the band if they would like to work on an entire album, which they accepted. Following the preliminary recording sessions in Maui, Mike Turner left the band in December 2001 after having recorded rhythm guitar parts for several songs that would appear on the album. Band members in interviews said that he and the band weren't seeing eye to eye anymore but according to official press releases the split was amicable. Duncan Coutts said of the split, "We weren't allowing him to do what he really wanted to do, and he wasn't