The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years

This is the 1988 documentary I watched for obvious reasons: 

RIP Ozzy Osbourne

Like many, his death on Tuesday was disheartening news, not to mention startling—his farewell concert just happened. I didn’t ever watch his “reality” TV show as I loathe how phony all “reality” television is (I know many that did, though). Rather, it was his music that I was a fan of; it was great discovering that long ago, whether it be Black Sabbath-they are one of the progenitors of an entire genre of music in heavy metal-or his solo work, it was songs I enjoyed listening to. In the future I need to hear more than just the hits but for now, a documentary about metal music.

Specifically, it is the glam era of metal, where the male musicians wore more makeup and had bigger hair than the women in the crowd. Some reviewers wished that harder metal would have been focused on; musically, I get it. That said, this was a nice time capsule of a specific era in the history of the Los Angeles music scene; many rock arts were attempting to become the next Poison. I was amused and bemused to hear a bunch of random young men bragging about their wild hedonistic lifestyles, usually deluded that they’ll make it.

Decline did mention some criticisms of the scene, from the purported “Satanic” elements to the more valid criticisms of misogyny and how groupies were taken advantage of. Bands that never became household names were shown, along with Poison, Megadeth, and a few elder statemen offering sage advice… Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, Alice Cooper, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry, Ozzy. Osbourne was shown doing the mundane task of making breakfast as he talked of his struggles concerning drug abuse & alcoholism.

Right after his death was announced, on Twitter went around a clip that happened to be from this film… a moment that was staged. The viewer saw Ozzy unable to pour orange juice into a glass. I’m a cynic so that looked phony to me; years after release, this was admitted to be staged. That seemed cruel to someone that struggled w/ sobriety and after the fact would wage war against those demons on several occasions. That wasn’t even the only moment that wasn’t on the up-and-up. Director Penelope Spheeris (right or wrong) made it clear there was at least some mockery of this scene. As for Chris Holmes, then of W.A.S.P. I don’t know how much of “he gets ridiculously wasted on camera in a swimming pool as MOM is right by him as he talks of suicide & dying young” was legit but I hope he wasn’t pouring actual Smirnoff over his face. Holmes is still alive, believe it or not.

I’m glad Ozzy was able to make it to the age of 76; it’s a miracle given he consumed a staggering amount of substances during his life. In terms of WTF lifestyles, Keith Richards and Iggy Pop are still around; both seem indestructible. Laughing at how everyone looked in Decline did occur; at other times I did appreciating hearing how (for example) Tyler and Perry had recently become sober and they were happy to clean up their act. Famously, they are still sober in 2025. “Not needing to lead a debaucherous lifestyle” was a key theme in Civilization. As many others have noted in Letterboxd reviews & in general, no wonder grunge music would in a few years become a huge deal.

While much of the metal played was average at best, I still enjoyed the tunes; of course, the highlights on that front were the Motorhead opening credits song, the Alice Cooper end credits song, and Megadeth performing during the finale. While I’m sure there are better metal documentaries out there in terms of content and music, I’ll reiterate that this is quite the time capsule of a specific era, where you can laugh at the looks & fashion but there’s a cautionary tale to learn, whether explicit or not.

What a life John Osbourne had; playing a pivotal role in rock history, infamous for moments like urinating on the Alamo & biting the head off a live bat, somehow becoming beloved in the 21st century to millions of young people. His health problems the past few years were unfortunate; even so, I’m glad the tribute concert happened and the huge reaction to his passing away showed the mark he left on pop culture. For the rest of time I’ll enjoy the music of Ozzy Osbourne.