Penelope Spheeris’s classic film featuring Ozzy, Lemmy, KISS, and Aerosmith, “The Decline Of Western Civilisation, Part II: The Metal Years”, has been officially released by its distributors for everyone to enjoy. It can currently be watched on YouTube for free.
The film, which captures the essence of the mid-to-late ’80s Los Angeles heavy metal scene, featuring appearances by Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, KISS, Aerosmith, and a cast of aspiring musicians and scene regulars, has now been made available by its distributor, Shout! Studios.
It includes several iconic moments — from W.A.S.P.’s Chris Holmes giving a slurred poolside interview as his visibly uncomfortable mother looks on, to Ozzy Osbourne musing on sobriety while casually preparing breakfast.
“I found guys like Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. fascinating,” Spheeris told Classic Rock. “I wasn’t sure, at the end of Chris’s interview, that I even had an interview, but, you know, it wasn’t me that gave him the vodka.”
“There were certain things we had to manipulate,” she added. “The sequence with Ozzy, that’s not really his house. And we faked the spilling of the orange juice. But Ozzy’s one of the funniest people alive. You just point a camera at him and off he goes”.
“The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years” also features live performances from Megadeth, Faster Pussycat, Lizzy Borden, London, Odin, and Seduce.
Director Penelope Spheeris kicked off the trilogy with the original Decline film, which spotlighted L.A.’s raw, early-’80s punk scene and included performances by bands like X, Black Flag, Germs, Circle Jerks, Fear, and more. The third installment, released in 1998, shifted focus to the harsh realities faced by so-called “gutter-punks,” delving into their struggles with skinhead violence and clashes with the LAPD.
Both Part I and Part III are also now available to stream for free online.
