THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION 2

93 minutes • 1988 • 7.2

Los Angeles in the late 1980s. At Sunset Strip the young bands meet with guitars on their backs and rockstar dreams in their eyes. Penelope Spheeris documents a stage full of leather and lipstick, where the road to fame is synonymous with alcohol, posing and a lack of self esteem. Superstars such as Kiss, Aerosmith and W.A.S.P. live side by side with basement bands chasing the big breakthrough, in the midst of a culture that doesn't know if it is coming or going. Equal amount burlesque and brutal stories of the 80s wave of hardrock - on the borderline between dream and decadence.