To people who think Cancer is a valid reason for a reunion hold up...

[Spanish Doctor]

Bite me! Read on.

The mighty TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy has cancer since earlier this year and he had several REAL chemo treatments. He's not through with his chemo yet. He lost all his hair. The doctors have determined what Chuck has is a very rare form of cancer called "Germ Cell Seminoma".

BUT

That has not stopped him from recording the latest Testament album that I'm listening right now.

All hail the mighty TESTAMENT and CHUCK BILLY!

I suggest you go and buy Testament's "First Strike Still Deadly", it's kick ass thrash metal at its finest.
http://www.testamentlegions.com

Eddie should take example from Chuck Billy, get up his lazy ass and do something, and quit smoking already goddammit. Cancer is not a valid excuse anymore.

[MikeL]

And so what if he can't move his arms!! What is he, some kind of guitarist? That's no excuse!!

[tap1966]

That;s kind of harsh. Cancer comes in many shapes and forms and affects different people in different ways. It can be easily treated or it can be untreatable swift, and deadly. I've seen the latter kind up close and personal this year - it isn't a very pleasant experience.

Having said that, I don't think Eddie's cancer is the reason for VH's non-activity. Pretty much everyone close to VH has said (or implied) this - Val, Dave, Mike, Sammy, Gary, Andy Johns even Eddie himself.

[Spanish Doctor]

I'm sad to hear about it, Jonathan. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

MikeL, I assume you wanted to be sarcastic. But as we all know Eddie has TONGUE cancer and if his arms were affected in any way at least someone would know about it by now.

[MikeL]

The point is that we don't know anything about Ed's situation. I'm certainly not an Eddie-apologist like some folks, but we can't compare a situation about which we have no facts to someone else's situation.

Freddie Mercury recorded as he was dying. Is that germain to Ed's situation? Nope. Why would the singer for some obscure band finishing an album be either?

I'm just saying it's ridiculous to compare two situations about which we know nothing. I don't believe cancer was anything more than a convenient excuse for Ed this spring, but what do I know?

[Fat Tone]

Regardless of the seriousness of Eddie's cancer,I can only imagine that after his diagnosis,he looked at Val and Wolfie and said to himself,"I'm gonna slow down and be a family for a while.Shit,we don't even have a singer anyway!".

[tap1966]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fat Tone:
Regardless of the seriousness of Eddie's cancer,I can only imagine that after his diagnosis,he looked at Val and Wolfie and said to himself,"I'm gonna slow down and be a family for a while.Shit,we don't even have a singer anyway!".<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't believe he was diagnosed when VH didn't have a singer. Comments from both Gary and Sammy suggest otherwise - Gary said something like "it's older news than people think" and Sammy said something like "they've kept it under wraps for years, it's not life threatening". Dave's website comment earlier in the year suggested (to me) he didn't think it was particularly relevant.

No one could blame Eddie for taking things easy and spending time with his family because he had cancer. I just don't think that's the reason nothing is going on. They were working with Dave after Eddie's trip to the Texas hospital: Ed, Al and Mike supposedly continue to work on music ever since Gary left. Add that to things said by other people on the radio etc (plus what I've been told), and nothing points towards cancer being a reason for the silence IMO.

My opinion is that

1. Eddie shouldn't have to work with Roth or any other singer if he doesn't want to.
2. Eddie should relax and spend time with his family if that's what he wants.

...and they don't "owe" us anything, even an explanation.

But this is a two way street - two years of near silence with the ongoing vague bullshit that they have 3 cds worth of material etc is klling their fanbase.

In the end it's just a financial transaction. We (the fans) provide money in return for product( cds, tix etc). But we don't "owe" them anything either. Same applies to Dave too incidentally - he hasn't exactly provided much info.

[Raldo]

This was posted earlier but I'll say it again, people who have cancer deal with it differently. If it is the reason for the reunion holdup, then so what. Unless you have had it, there shouldn't be any complaints. I have never had it but I've seen my wife's relatives struck down by it. I don't mean to get personal but when someone says 'bite me' because they don't think that someone with cancer should use it as an excuse to not reunite a band, it just ticks me off. [img]smilies/mad.gif[/img]

[Brett]

Since we are COMPLETLELY unaware of Eddie's current situation, it is ridiculous to speculate the nature of his illness and how serious it may really be.

With that said, I don't believe Ed's cancer has anything to do with the hold up at all.

[ November 07, 2001 at 09:08 AM: Message edited by: Brett ]

[tap1966]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brett:
Since we are COMPLETLELY unaware of Eddie's current situation, it is ridiculous to speculate the nature of his illness and how serious it may really be.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

By that logic we shouldn't be speculating on anything to do with Van Halen [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Anyway, as far as I can remember - no one connected to the VH camp, including Eddie, has even said that cancer has anything to do with the delay. More like the EVH apologists have put two and two together to maintain an illusion of Eddie's inherent goodness.

Eddie said he wouldn't talk about cancer until he was well. But he never used that as a reason for no music from VH. On the contrary, they've insisted that they continue to work on music - and the closest EVH has come to stating a reason is his "Other people's realities" comment.

[Brett]

No, speculating on the health of a person is far different than speculating whether a band will put out another album or who their next lead singer will be.

BTW, if I was dying of cancer and was a public figure, I'd keep my privacy and tell the general public only what I wanted them to know. I wouldn't be running around, "Oh I have cancer, I am dying, feel bad for me." That's not Eddie's style, nor do I believe is he completely well, hence his continued silence. Still don't think his illness is stopping him from playing guitar, and if he wanted to put out an album he could. I seriously doubt he is well enough to tour, I could care less what ANYONE says.

[Glenn]

My problem with Eddie (and it's largely because I perceive him to be the band leader now) is that they started up a message board, along with promises of band visits, which could only lead us to believe that the band was functioning, and haven't followed through at all. If Eddie has/had cancer, and frankly even if he didn't, I wouldn't be upset if they retired. It's not going to last forever.

But they have a tool in front of them (har [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]) to communicate instantly, and they've said they'll use it, and they never do. And I'm NOT talking about Eddie keeping us updated about his cancer, that's his business if he chooses it to be. They could win a ton of fan loyalty just by posting virtually anything, even some concert or recording memories. And if Eddie isn't healthy enough to do that, where are Alex and Mike to do these things? They have a big stake in maintaining the fan base too.

[Spanish Doctor]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Glenn:
My problem with Eddie (and it's largely because I perceive him to be the band leader now) is that they started up a message board, along with promises of band visits, which could only lead us to believe that the band was functioning, and haven't followed through at all. If Eddie has/had cancer, and frankly even if he didn't, I wouldn't be upset if they retired. It's not going to last forever.

But they have a tool in front of them (har [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]) to communicate instantly, and they've said they'll use it, and they never do. And I'm NOT talking about Eddie keeping us updated about his cancer, that's his business if he chooses it to be. They could win a ton of fan loyalty just by posting virtually anything, even some concert or recording memories. And if Eddie isn't healthy enough to do that, where are Alex and Mike to do these things? They have a big stake in maintaining the fan base too.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Exactly.

[tap1966]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brett:
No, speculating on the health of a person is far different than speculating whether a band will put out another album or who their next lead singer will be.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

How so? He's a public figure, he's said he has cancer. His wife has talked about his cancer. His ex-bandmates have talked about his cancer. How can one not speculate about it when the information is vague and contradictory and Eddie is seen a month later smoking in public.

You can take the "high" road, if that's how you perceive it, of not *talking* about it or making your speculation public. But every single person registered here, at the army and a the PD has speculated about it.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>
BTW, if I was dying of cancer and was a public figure, I'd keep my privacy and tell the general public only what I wanted them to know. I wouldn't be running around, "Oh I have cancer, I am dying, feel bad for me." That's not Eddie's style, nor do I believe is he completely well, hence his continued silence. Still don't think his illness is stopping him from playing guitar, and if he wanted to put out an album he could. I seriously doubt he is well enough to tour, I could care less what ANYONE says.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

How much less could you care? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] I'd probably do the same if I was a public figure and dying of cancer. But I certainly wouldn't be surprised if people started speculating about it.

I don't think his health (except possibly his mental health) has anything to do with his continued silence and I couldn't care less what anyone says.

[VH1977]

The only reason why Van Halen is out of action is because Eddie is sick. He sadly has cancer, and is trying to keep it a personal matter. I think Van Halen are alot more private than we thought. We Van Halen fans are just going to have to 'move on' for the time being, and just pray for Eddie to get better, and pray the Boys will produce some music very soon. For now I am getting into new music. Check out the new Ben Folds. CD. It's Fantastic.Real fresh. He's a Van Halen fan as well.