FACT or FICTION

You've probably seen this column idea at other sites. We thought it would be cool to do it for the various metal rumors floating around the Internet.

1. Stratovarius guitarist Timo Tolkki was recently hospitalized because he truly suffers from suicidal feelings and chronic depression. FACT or FICTION?

EC--FACT Timo is nuts.

1Evil1--FICTION - I think he is just making excuses for people to listen to his music or to gather attention to himself and the band. The fact is he has a second rate band that no one cares about anymore. Do yourself a favor Tolkki quit Stratovarius and get yourself a normal job like Burger King.

Nailer--FACT, Considering the oddities that he's put out recently, it would explain a lot of things. Mixing alcohol and psychotic drugs, as he's claimed to have done, certainly wouldn't help things.

IcedMojo--FACT is, nothing this idiot does surprises me anymore. But it is a damn shame; Stratovarius were an exceptional band but now, who is going to care anymore.

Neekoy--FICTION, he actually suffers from AWDS - Attention Whore Deficit Syndrome

Double M--FACT, but only because Timo seems to have lost his monkey mind in recent months, and this diagnosis would go a long way in explaining why.

Psycho Sarah--FICTION if people were hospitalized because we were suffering from suicidal feelings and chronic depression, everyone would be hospitalized at least once in their life. I know I get suicidal feelings every time I hear Bon Jovi. I believe that Timo went into the hospital saying that he was feeling suicidal and had chronic depression for the attention. We are discussing it aren’t we?


2. David Lee Roth will be provide vocals a surprise guest on some of the dates for the upcoming Van Halen tour. FACT or FICTION?

EC--FICTION, No way in Hell!

1Evil1--FICTION - as long as Hagar is there Roth will not be. Besides Diamond Dave has a very successful solo career going on now so what benefit would come of him singing with Van Halen?

Nailer--FICTION, it would sell some more tickets if people thought Diamond Dave would show for a rendition of "Running With the Devil", but I think Eddie would just as soon have his fingers mashed before sharing the stage with Dave again.

IcedMojo--FICTION, if that were really something he was interested in, he would have done this a while ago. Truth is, there are to many egos involved to ever see that.

Neekoy-- FICTION, obviously more of the same shit from the Gun's and Roses new album is coming out soon and the Metallica's next album is gonna be their best crowd.

Double M--FICTION The only way you'll see Edie Van Halen and David Lee Roth together again is on pay per view in an event called "The War To Settle The Metal Score" with an asking price of $34.95. The undercard will feature Morgan Rose of Sevendust vs. Dez Farrara in a "loser gets his mouth duct-taped shut" No DQ match, as well as Phil Anselmo taking on both Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrel in a handicap match.

Psycho Sarah--FICTION If it were fact it would be great. David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar together again. I can see that happening.


3. Anthrax would be more popular right now in the U.S. if ex-singer Joey Belladonna would rejoin the band for a tour. FACT or FICTION?

EC--FICTION, People just don't care about Anthrax anymore, regardless of who they have as their frontman.

1Evil1--FICTION - Now don't get me wrong I love Anthrax with Belladonna but once Bush started singing for the band they got more attention than ever. The sound of white noise was one of the bands best sounding and selling albums they had done. Problem was right after that album record labels started ditching metal bands in favor of the trendy pop scene. I believe what has led to the loss of popularity for the band is that they have made some bad front office deals and have a string of bad luck with record labels, that and the time between albums. With the exception of stomp 442 every album post Belladonna has been solid and strong. I think now they may have themselves in a better position to come back as strong as ever.

Nailer--FICTION, Anthrax sales have slid downhill throughout the 90's from CDs with half-great/half-mediocre songs. Unless they can make an extremly kick-ass album, which the last wasn't, they won't get anywhere.

IcedMojo--FACT, some people just don't like change. What they fail to see, is John Bush has just as much, if not more, talent and ability.

Neekoy--FACTION, in the middle on this one because 1 fan for Anthrax at the moment would make them more popular.

Double M--FACT, but the problem is it still wouldn't last long. They'd get a short spike in popularity due to the nostalgia factor, but then people would just wander away again and go look for the newest unlistenable crap that's become popular. A shame that Anthrax - true pioneers and STILL one of the best metal bands out there - couldn't get arrested if they tried thanks to people calling the awesome stuff they put out "boring" while going online and typing "MESHUGGAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" into every forum board they can find...

Psycho Sarah--FICTION they would be more popular if we heard them more. Its hard to make a band popular when you don’t hear them.


4. Velvet Revolver will kick off their first nationwide tour on May 13 in St. Louis, Missouri. Dates and venues for the trek, which will through July 22. Vocalist Scott Weiland will make it to the end of the tour without being arrested. FACT or FICTION?

EC--FICTION, Weiland will be arrested within a month of the tour kickoff.

1Evil1--FICITON - I think somewhere down the line you will see a repeat of what happened with Metallica and Guns 'n Roses. That is if Weiland can make it to the first show.

Nailer--FICTION, too many temptations and Scott doesn't have a good track record of getting past the police. I'd give him two and a half weeks tops. Sorry to be down on ya, Scott, but I gotta stay realistic.

IcedMojo--FICTION he has to keep up his asshole, I mean bad boy image.

Neekoy--FICTION, who are we kidding? Scott Weiland can't even get out his front door without getting arrested.

Double M--FICTION Why stop a good thing now? Hell, the arrests and rehab may make for better headlines and publicity than the tour itself!

Psycho Sarah--FICTION We don’t live in a fairy tale, its okay to dream.


5. Former Crue frontman Vince Neil pleaded no contest to battery on a Moonlite BunnyRanch prostitute to avoid having a lengthy trial. FACT or FICTION?

EC--FACT, By this point in his career, he knows all about court rooms.

1Evil1--FACT Now we all know this mans appetite for women so this probably did happen. But what has been hidden from us is that in some drunken slumber he went up to this "bunny" and imagined it was himself. After getting his groove on with himself he was probably all emotional and had a heart to heart conversation with himself but when the conversation turned to the downfall of Motely Crue he started beating the shit out of himself which in turn was this "bunny". But that's just my opinion...

Nailer--FACT is that Vince is a livewire. I wouldn't be suprised to hear about a civil settlement within a year or so. The lesson here for the kids is always pay your whores cause it's cheaper in the long run.

IcedMojo--FACT of the matter is, HE DID IT. But who really cares. As if you admit to something you know you did not have anything to do with.

Neekoy--Who gives a fuck?

Double M--FACT, Although I'm not sure why; it's not like a trial would have interrupted his busy schedule of doing solo tours that no one cares about while moonlighting on Reality TV shows...

Psycho Sarah--FACT he did harass or slap one of the “employees” when he was a customer, from what I have read and heard. I have just one question for Vince. Why go to a public and known place to get what you want when you have a lot of "fans" that would please you and not say anything. Sure some of them are not as attractive as others, thats why they created the paper bag. Just put a paper bag over their head and go on with your business.


6. Gene Simmons loves hearing himself talk. FACT or FICTION?

EC--FACT Enough said.

1Evil1--FACT - Whats a better way to stir up interest in KISS and the new side project of Gene Simmons than a little controversy between band members.

Nailer--FACT, Besides the promo work he has to do for his solo stuff, he likes talking as much as Neekoy loves to stroke his joke.

IcedMojo--FACT he is used to the spotlight being on him, now don't move it...haha

Neekoy--FICTION, He just repeats himself so often because his fucked out grandpa ears have made him deaf as a beaten prostitute.

Double M--...like no one else on the face of this fucking planet. That's definitely FACT as people full of their own shit just love to hear their own voices.

Psycho Sarah--FACT Have you ever heard an interview with him? Or listened to any Kiss Live recordings or seen them live. That’s all I got on this one.


7. Black Sabbath will reunite for OzzFest. FACT or FICTION?

EC--FICTION Ozzy wants the spotlight for himself.

1Evil1--FACT - As long as Ozzy can find the stage and teleprompter everything is a go.

Nailer--FACT, Priest alone as the headliners won't pull in enough tickets. Sabbath with they would put them over the top.

IcedMojo--No big surprise there. Lets face FACTs, they are done but want little kids to think they are getting a treat.

Neekoy--FICTION, a bout as much chance as Nailer being given a Emmy for his role as "Fuckhole" in Return from Sodom.

Double M--Dear GOD do I hope that's FACT. Black Sabbath AND Judas Priest - on the same bill?! I can die happy after that.

Psycho Sarah--FACT they’ve done it before, so why not make it happen again. This time Ozzy is gonna be able to recall the reuniting of the band.


8. Metallica members James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich are "In terms of their genre of music...the Lennon and McCartney of their generation". FACT or FICTION?

EC--FICTION Metallica didn't do anything new or revolutionary in my opinion. The Beatles did.

1Evil1--FACT - As unfortunate as it is when you talk about METAL to the average person the first band they think of is Metallica. The first names that come to their mind are James and Lars. Now besides the fact that most of these people are drunken rednecks that dont explore the vast world of the metal community more than what is played on the radio or MTV is what has caused the problem. So it is up to us to change this for the generations to come and Dave Brockie will lead the way with the mobilization of his faggot soldiers dominating the world. Faggot soldiers mobilize and have exotic times!

Nailer--FICTION, Every time somebody wants to say a musician is talented they always trot out the Lennon/McCartney reference. If the speaker thinks the those two are the Lennon and McCartney of their generation then it doesn't speak that well for the rest of the bunch.

IcedMojo--FICTION they only wish they were good enough to polish Lennon's headstone.

Neekoy--FACT, James does walk around like he and his music has been dead for the last 20 years and Lars does continue to claim he is the brains of the operation while riding the coatails of the other more talented band members.

Psycho Sarah--FICTION how much has he written? He also has a gigantic mouth, if that counts for anything. Can you really compare them to Lennon and McCartney. I don’t think so.

Double M--FICTION, even though filmmaker Joe Berlinger Some Kind Of Monster) seems to think this way because he spent so much time with them and got deluded. As for the exact reasons why, I'll reprint the passage about all of this from the 4/12/04 edition of Double M (Monday Mayhem) from  411Music.com:

Let’s not get carried away here. Dude, I understand you got to spend a lot of time with Metallica making this movie and all, but methinks your judgment may be clouded a little. Hetfield and Ulrich have been a terrific duo and what part they played in pushing metal into popular territory that no one ever thought they would see is unmistakable, no doubt about that. However, in terms of total impact on music, we’re comparing chicken shit to chicken salad.

Lennon and McCartney went from writing the catchiest and best pop imaginable to taking several forms of music and forever changing what could be done with them. Not only that, but Lennon and McCartney got better as they went along, not worse.

From their first record up to Metallica (one of many pretenders wrongly called “The Black Album”), Hetfield and Ulrich scared and/or empowered just about anything that put their ears to them. However, let their rockstar egos allow them to unconscionably sue everything in sight instead of focusing on pounding the hell out of the rest of the world like they had done before. As a result, this once powerful thing called metal got watered down at best and pathetic at worst.