WHOA! You guys, The Decline of Western Civilization, um, the trilogy, so like, all three of Penelope Spheeris‘s infamous rock and roll “lifestyle” documentaries—the original The Decline of Western Civilization, Part II: The Metal Years, and Part III—are finally getting proper “home release” in a four-disc box set!! I’m fuckin’ STOKED!! I played my 17th-generation VHS copy of the first Decline till my VCR couldn’t track the tape anymore! Um, so I prolly haven’t seen the complete movie in 25 god-damn years. The original Decline was a crazy peek into the sideways lives of LA punks in 1979/80 and featured some amazing, iconic live clips of bands: Alice Bag Band, Black Flag, the Germs, X, the Circle Jerks, Catholic Discipline, and Fear. Part II: The Metal Years, was a headfirst dunk into the Sunset Strip’s mid-’80s glam-metal scene. Oh LORD, what a shameless mess of drunk and coked-up poodle-headed rockers which, thankfully, included Ozzy Osborne cooking breakfast and Lemmy giving out rock and roll life advice. Oh, Faster Pussycat, Lizzy Borden, Odin, Megadeath, and a few other groups were featured playing. TDoWC Part III, well, I’ve never seen it, as it was screened around some movie fests and never commercially released. This final installment deals with crusty punx/gutter punks living and squatting in Los Angeles during the late ’90s and features bands Naked Aggression and Final Conflict.
It’s about time these films were repackaged. I think the first two did make it onto DVD, but this looks like a full-on update and remastering. So, what exactly are we getting? FOUR discs, a 40-page book, and “a new commentary track by Dave Grohl.” The box will be released on June 30! I CAN’T WAIT! Details about the bonus disc via Rolling Stone:
The bonus materials for the Decline films also include interviews with Spheeris by KNAC’s Tawn Mastery and the Academy Film Archive’s Mark Toscano, never-before-seen footage, performances and interviews, the original trailers and an essay by Domenic Priore, who wrote the 2007 book Riot on Sunset Strip.
Um, yeah, so Dave Grohl recorded the voice over/commentary; I guess Gohl got the tap since he’s friends with Germs guitarist, Pat Smear, maybe? I’m not sure how he otherwise rated an inclusion on this set because he was NOT part of ’80s LA punk and/or metal scenes.