The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

Full disclosure time: this viewer is a metalhead, and has been for over 30 years, since discovering bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Yet somehow catching this documentary, itself almost 30 years old now, eluded him. A follow up to director Penelope Spheeris' earlier definitive punk rock documentary, its focus on the men (and women) who make hard rock and heavy metal is certainly a natural progression, since so many parental and authority figures abominated these genres as well. The film mostly consists of sit down interviews with some of the reigning kings of the genre and the confident (you could easily call them overconfident) up and comers of the era sharing their thoughts. Not surprisingly, it's the veterans like Lemmy, of Motorhead, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, and Ozzy Osbourne, that tend to offer the most interesting observations and anecdotes. There is one interview, however, with W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes, filmed as he lounges in a swimming pool while his mother (!) looks on. It goes from amusing to disconcerting in a hurry. The notion of "Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll" is very much on the minds of various interviewees here. Viewers should be prepared for some pretty frank dialogue. One thing that sobers you up quickly is seeing how many of the young turks proclaim that their lives would have no more meaning if they couldn't play their music. Obviously, the aspirations of groups like London, Odin, and Seduce for super stardom didn't pan out, and as Poison front man Bret Michaels points out, it is important to stand out from the pack in some over crowded genres. The sequences with Bill Gazzari, the so-called "Godfather of Rock 'n' Roll", only serve to add a titillation factor (not that some people will complain about that, mind you), and interviews with an anti-metal authority figure will likely get some viewers hopping mad. I found it interesting that Megadeth, one of my favorite acts from this era, are saved for near the end, given that they're one act that's portrayed as actually caring more about the music than fame and lifestyle. Overall, decent entertainment with a variable soundtrack (some of the new music is okay, some of it not so good). Seven out of 10.

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source: The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

If you watch this movie expecting to see an intelligent appraisal of heavy metal you are in for an enormous disappointment. This mostly an embarrassing parade of C grade LA Glam bands that never made it, more interested in their looks and "P***y" than the music. Lemmy, Alice Cooper, Megadeth, Ozzy and Steve and Joe from Aerosmith are the only voices of reason. Chris Holmes from WASP is pitiful in his pool scene, and just sad guzzling bottles of smirnoff. Totally USA centric The title of the metal years conjours images of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, not "London" or 'Seduce" (Who!!?) This is a lovefest for the LA scene of the late '80's. Crowning glory, Paul Stanley with 3 groupies draped across him, gazing adoringly at him while he talks about how transient they are. Pathetic. Just made me embarrassed to be associated with the genre

As a 16-year-old in 1988, I have to tell you that this was probably the most important movie of my life - all the short time I had spent on Earth - and it made me dream about heading off to the Sunset Strip and taking my singing abilities in the service of bands like Jetboy and the Sea Hags. And here we are, as I write about this on my couch while working all day on a Sunday afternoon, writing marketing materials for a college somewhere in New York. If you watched this movie at 16 and didn't want to be Chris Holmes, what was wrong with you? It's funny, because as we watched this, my wife asked, "When did he die?" He's still, improbably, alive. Before reality TV decimated the Satanic edge of metal, seeing artists like Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Mustaine, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley discuss their careers rarely happened. I love that each of them gets a background that relates to them - Joe Perry and Steven Tyler are just chilling on a couch while Ozzy is in a bathrobe making eggs and Stanley is covered in models as he talks about the life he leads. By the way, him spilling orange juice never happened and that's not even his kitchen. That said, W.A.S.P. bassist Holmes steals the show, mumbling throughout and providing the films one sobering - if totally drunk - take on the fakeness of it all. Just witness the band Odin, who is surrounded by models in a hot tub, discussing how they'll be bigger than Led Zeppelin or The Doors or commit suicide. Or nightclub owner Bill Gazzarri, who just seems like a character straight out of the hell of a Dark Brothers film. I kind of love that Lemmy was shot from a distance and asked questions in the hopes that he'd give dumb replies. Lemmy being Lemmy, he seems above it all, despite spending just about every night at the Rainbow, right in the heart of all of 1988's hairspray. Detroit band Seduce was added to fill the loss of Guns 'n Roses, whose management kept them out of this movie. Several have pointed to the excesses in this film as killing off the era of glam and hair metal. If that's so, bands like Steel Panther have seen this as a map to the world they wish still exists. Spheeris told Louder Sound, "In a way, you can look at Decline II as the research and then Wayne's World as the final product." The funny thing is, despite Ronnie O's claims that he'd kill himself - like GG Allin without the punk heart or body covered in feces and gore - the band had already broken up before the film came out, with guitarist Jeff Duncan joining Armored Saint, a band that he's still in. Anyways, I'm 47 now. And I can tell you that most of what Chris Holmes was drinking was water. But it doesn't mean that I don't dream of 1988 a lot and wonder what it was like to play the Whiskey or the Cathouse.

During the opening credits, there is a great pan shot across a line of fans waiting for a rock show. It sets the stage, so to speak, for a very entertaining--and informative--look at the heavy metal scene in the late 1980's. The movie concentrates on Hollywood, which was aruguably the epicenter of hard rock throughout that decade. The decadence, flamboyance and unabashed immaturity in some the movie's scenes appears cheesy and fake when compared to other music eras...particularly the proceeding grunge period in Seattle. That said, it contains fantastic interviews and footage of some of the 80's biggest rock stars--and rock locations. Every period and genre in music should have its story documented. And this movie is like a time capsule of hard rock in the 80's.

Features interviews with notables in The Heavy Metal genre, fans, groupies, and aspiring musicians, with performances by Odin, Lizzy Borden {still performing}, London {post- Nikki Sixx}, Seduce {who really did possess some talent there}, and Megadeth {before they mega-died}. Questions range from the plans of the musicians if they are not successful {from what I have seen, most did not - considering their apparent adamance, I wonder how many of them actually became homeless, conformed, became involved in other positions within the music industry, or otherwise died*; among them all. I did recognize Vixen who went on to experience some success with an album}, to the "satanism" angle, which was limited {perhaps thankfully} to 'the devil horns' hand gesture, most comically explained by a Christian probation officer as containing the ubiquitous authority of The Devil with the upthrust fingers, and the three pointing down representing the denial of the Christian trinity, also containing '666' within the bend of the fingers - I honestly do not believe any of the 'rockers' and 'metalheads' even considered that more involved Occult symbology, and just lift it in the air as a habit, but was probably first used by Ronnie James Dio as relating to Heavy Metal. She also had quite a collection of confiscated gauntlets, studded fingerless gloves, spiked bracelets, and collars - no doubt plenty of records and tapes as well. A cleaned-up Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith relate tales of their narcotic excesses, a rehabilitated Ozzy Osbourne has an amusingly pleasant morning chat while preparing breakfast {at one point, he misses a glass almost completely while pouring some orange juice and talking about his own alcoholism and drug use}, Alice Cooper in full makeup on the theatrical set takes umbrage at a certain band for what he feels is unjustified replication, KISS' Gene Simmons offers intelligent and concise commentary on the going-on within the industry, Paul Stanley also offers cohesive commentary amongst a bevy of beauties in bed, Lemmy Kilmeister of Motorhead offers gruff realities overlooking Hollywood, and WASP's {at the time} Chris Holmes drunkenly rambles on about his intoxicated exploits as his poor mother sits poolside, progressively becoming more inebriated with two bottles of Vodka - one can readily perceive his unfortunate mental degeneration. I thought club owner and sharp dresser Bill Gazzarri had quite a remarkably life-loving attitude, offering great opportunities to many bands who may otherwise would have never seen the spotlight, and initiated salacious events such as dance and strip contests for sexy young ladies. His commercials were heavily circulated on 105.5 KNAC at the time, which was the only Heavy Metal radio station in the L.A. area - now there are none. KNAC DJ Tawn Mastrey was also featured herein. Ultimately, I feel 'The Decline of Western Civilization part 2: The Metal Years' was an accurate, though somewhat limited documentary of the 80's Metal subculture, although I personally would have liked to have seen interviews with Venom, King Diamond, Possessed, Bathory, Manowar, and Celtic Frost as well. Perhaps there will eventually be a part 4, focusing on these 'dark bands'? It would be interesting, but whether or not they are actual Satanists would be another matter altogether. This film concentrates largely on Hollywood 'pop-metal' and Glam rock. _________ * Incidentally, 'The Decline of Western Civilization part 3' features interviews with some of the homeless street dwellers of Hollywood.

I'll admit right off the bat that I didn't respond as strongly to the Decline of Western Civilization 2: the Metal Years as I did to Penelope Spheeris's first film and documentary, even as I know I did like this film. The former was a kind of fly-on-the-wall (as I recall, not as many direct interviews, more concert footage) look at this way of rock and roll life- of LA punks- that Spheeris knew intrinsically. In the Metal Years, she here isn't as much a fly on the wall in the sense of just getting the pure feeling of these people as she is getting answers to questions by a mix of highly popular and working-the-bottom bunch of Metal rockers. It of course can't cover everything in such an amount of time, and one might be slightly disappointed to see Britain's metal scene is sort of overlooked in the course of the film (not that it isn't represented in interviews with Ozzy and Lemmy, but Maiden and Priest fans, among others, may wonder wtf). But if there is any single strength to this seemingly longer-than-90 minute film, with the interviews strung together in a interesting fashion alongside the concert footage, it's that this particular scene of American metal- particularly LA metal's scene- is captured very well. And in this capturing of this time and place and the people all abound in it, it's of course of note to mention that everything the musicians say is not 100% reliable, and here and there it definitely has the feeling of bulls***ing with Spheeris's questions (however clever and funny). But there are enough true moments to really get the sense of these people at the time, that there is maybe at least some depth to the members of Poison (with really one good song in my opinion), or that Ozzy does have a very clear and honest view of what's gone on with him and the scene, or what rock means or drugs mean or sex. If there isn't always a focus in the line of questioning, or if there doesn't seem to be much of a structure to the film, maybe it's part of the point. Here we have a mix of rockers either trying to make it (Odin, who I think made it bigger since, are featured prominently, as well as London), or have made it (Aerosmith, Kiss, Megadeth and Alice Cooper among a couple others), and be it that a scene or two is staged or set up at a location for a desired effect, there aren't many punches pulled with the answers to the fairly straightforward questions. And some of them, when not all about "rock and roll is my life" does show the dark side quite accurately, especially considering the time period. One interview with the drunk in the pool gives the most to try and shake off, even as the manipulation of the filmmaker kind of kicks in with having his mother right there watching him in his over-drunk state. But, it is at the end of the day an entertaining documentary, if only as being a fan of the sub-fold of music myself. Some of the concert footage is less than great, even as London and of course Megadeth give quality performances. There was, like with other good documentaries, enough talk coming out of people to really chew on, and it shows Spheeris in a sort of different direction than in the other look at life in underground rock and roll. It's not great, but for the fans of the bands &/or those interviewed, it is near essential viewing, and also with an anthropological side to it through the stories and Q&A's that work for those not as into the music.

I discovered this film after hearing Megadeth was in it so I tracked down a PAL format VHS to DVD rip of the movie - needless to say, it suffers from the poor quality of the rip but still very enjoyable Anyways, I recently caught it again in hi def on IFC Films and reminded me why I like this so much - so many people who think they can make it by imitating others so much so that no one can tell them apart - great documentary and should be mandatory watching for any band that is up and coming (to keep their heads out of the clouds). One of the things I really enjoyed the most out of this, though, was to look back now and most if not all of the unestablished bands didn't even make anything out of themselves... Really sad, but great to see how things change over time

Great documentary of the heavy metal scene of the late 1980s. Unlike the first "Decline..." this movie concentrates more on interviews than concert footage. There are just fascinating talks with old time performers (Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne) and newcomers (Odin, WASP, Poison). The contrasts and their views on music, drugs and sex are very interesting and illuminating. The movie makes no judgments on the performers or their music...they leave that up to the audience. The whole feeling of the film is actually uplifting and very funny. The bands come across as very upbeat and accessible. The interviews with fans of the music are just as fun. Interesting to see Ozzy Osbourne years before that reality show he did for MTV. The only depressing footage is an interview with Chris Holmes of WASP. He's drunk out of his mind and makes it quite clear that he hates life, is an alcoholic, had a heavily dysfunctional childhood and will be dead soon. Very scary to watch and sad. That aside, this is a great, accurate documentary of heavy metal. A must-see.