The Debauchery and Depravity of the ’80s Hair Metal Scene, Revealed!
The 1980s hair metal scene has already received a definitive documentary account courtesy of Penelope Spheeris’ The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, and Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of '80s Hair Metal doesn’t outdo it.
Paramount+’s three-part docuseries, which premieres Sept. 17, is a non-fiction power ballad for the era of big hair, tight spandex, and rampant debauchery and depravity, reminiscing with an affection that isn’t, alas, matched by its incisiveness. Light on the decade’s biggest luminaries and even lighter on insight, it merely opts for sketchy nostalgia.
Hair metal was all about excess, so Nöthin' But a Good Time (based on the book by journalists Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, who appear) is invariably most entertaining when its talking heads recount anecdotes about their over-the-top heyday.