The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
Directed by: Penelope Spheeris - 1 hour, 33 minutes - USA - 1988 - Color – Blu-ray - 1.33:1
Starring: Lemmy, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Chris Holmes, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Poison, Vixen, Faster Pussycat, Megadeth
(My apologies for the poor font choice. I know “II” looks way more metal with serifs.)
Sometimes a scene is more interesting than anything that anything the scene produces, and the artists more interesting than the art, even if they’re mostly interesting as bad examples. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II chronicles the LA metal scene of the late ‘80s, which mostly meant the “hair metal” scene. There are also respected elders on hand – the ones who had made great music. Ozzy cooks breakfast while rocking the hairstyle your Mom thought was a good idea for a few months in the ‘80s. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith are reliably entertaining, but make you wish their interviews were done a year earlier before they were sober. Alice Cooper is rote-creepy, and Lemmy from Motörhead is interviewed on a hilltop overlooking LA, talking metal life in reassuring British tones, like a Wise Metal Angel. If you go back to that hilltop in 100 years, Lemmy will probably still be there.
The Decline of Western Civilization series was created by director Penelope Spheeris, best known for later directing Wayne’s World. Part 1 documented punk bands in early ‘80s LA, including The Germs, Black Flag (pre-Rollins), X, and The Circle Jerks. Part 3, which I have to admit I never knew existed, is about the LA crust punk scene in the late ‘90s.
DOWCII is almost clinical in its approach. The music isn’t good, and the film mostly ignores it. There are clips of shows to set the context but the story is mostly told through interviews. None of the interviews are particularly in-depth, and the film runs on a soundbite-length rhythm that’s usually the mark of propaganda, or at least bad documentaries. But the bands interview in soundbites, with prepared sophomoric jokes to respond to all the usual questions, so it kind of works. Still, Spheeris is blunt in her questioning, and the best moments of the film are from the only extended interview, with Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P., floating in his mother’s pool (see above) and pouring vodka over himself, discussing his alcoholism and the details of a metal life lived.