In The Decline Of Western Civilization, a trilogy of documentary films spanning three eras of rebellious rock in Los Angeles, director Penelope Spheeris captured seminal bands in their native habitat at a crucial stage in their history.

In the first film (released in 1980), she quizzed members of Black Flag about their hair styles and world views in the graffitti-scarred church where they bunked together, and she documented kamikaze performances by the Germs shortly before singer Darby Crash committed suicide. In the second film (released in 1988) heavy metal heavies like Ozzy Osbourne testified about a lifestyle of rock excess, swerving into self parody.

“I didn’t look at these bands and say, ‘These guys are the new Rolling Stones.’ I never had the thought that they’d be around forever,” says Spheeris, who went on to direct Wayne’s World and other big commercial films. “My primary interest was studying human behavior, and I used the music as a springboard to get there.”

Before the Internet (and long before YouTube), the Decline films gave music fans a window into a subculture that was then virtually invisible in the mainstream. For many young viewers (including budding musicians far removed from the L.A. scene), the films served as a playbook for the philosophies and fashions of punk rock and heavy metal–that is, if they could find Decline.

The films barely appeared in theaters, and on VHS they received spotty distribution. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years got some play on television, and its more outlandish interviews added to the movie’s lore. (Example: Paul Stanley of KISS interviewed on a bed crowded with scantily clad women). However, none of the three movies were released on DVD. Bootleg copies abounded, but an official release has been long overdue.

Now, Shout! Factory, the prolific label that specializes in reissues, is releasing the Decline trilogy as a box set overseen by Spheeris and her daughter, Anna Fox. The four-disc package includes the restored films, plus outtakes and complete interviews, and commentary by the filmmaker and Dave Grohl (whose Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear, a founding member of the Germs, appears in Decline part I).

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Photo by Suzanne Allison