If I were to make the assertion that Creatures of the Night and Exciter can certainly be compared with two souped-up hot rods, I think it would be a safe bet to assume that there would be no to little contradiction to this statement. And just to stick with the imagery of motor vehicles and all that goes with them, you could drive these two collector's items with reverent caution to the nearest garage to take a quick look under the hood. And while you're at it, you could also drive them up the car lift and inspect them from underneath.
I don't know about you, even if I'm far from being allowed to call myself a car expert, who wouldn't want to do something like that if the opportunity arose?
I'm just going to pretend I know exactly what I'm talking about and talk shop: Oh, what do we have here? Creatures is a classic jacked up, extra wide '69 Dodge Charger, with a pair of very large rear wheels. Please switch this hot V8 engine on again. Mmh, what a lovely sound. And, ahh yes, just as I expected. Exciter a slim, elegant and classic '68 Dodge Challenger, but one with a supercharger thingy, you know, one of those things that sticks out through the hood. Like from Mad Max. Where they put a bit of this and a bit of that into the hot Ford Falcon (1).
This bit of that in this case, however, seems to come directly from The Oath, which is no bad idea at all, and incidentally, one of the first of many subsequent admissions within the band that Music from The Elder was not only full of fantastic ideas, but also full of opportunities to be exploited for the future.
And if we ultimately wanted to take a look at the lower body of these beauties, of course just for the sake of form, all I would notice at first glance is that both have somehow similar breaks (1). More or less, in a different pitch, of course, and one of them has more oomph into it, but identical enough for me to identify a recognition value clearly reminiscent of Creatures of the Night. Do I even need to mention the similarly howling, screeching lead guitars at the start of both songs? To this end let's take another look at the Metalesque shredding in Creatures' verses and Exciter's helicopteresque intro, morphing into that Maidenesque galloping main riff from The Oath. All enough signaling Kiss were back, with a clearly determined battle cry that shouts: This is our new identity! We conquered this! This is us (3) !
Only, a few years later they somehow loudly claimed the same with Crazy Nights (4). What can I say, Kiss have conquered a lot of new territory for themselves over the years.
Side Notes:
(1) All right, I can't keep up this façade any longer. I don't even have a driver's license. I only have a superficial fondness for muscle cars from the 60s and early 70s, but that' s it.
(2) See what I did there?
(3) With a good pinch of cheese and drama. But that's another story.
(4) As you should already know I also really like Crazy Nights. It's just… slightly different from Creatures of the Night and Lick It Up.
I highlighted the breaks & shreds of Creatures of the Night and Exciter, as well as the riff commonality of the Oath and Exciter.
Well, come on all of you, big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun
And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die
Come on Wall Street, don't be slow
Why man, this is war au-go-go
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of its trade
But just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb
They drop it on the Viet Cong
And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die
Well, come on generals, let's move fast
Your big chance has come at last
Now you can go out and get those reds
'Cause the only good commie is the one that's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come
And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die
Come on mothers throughout the land
Pack your boys off to Vietnam
Come on fathers, and don't hesitate
To send your sons off before it's too late
And you can be the first ones in your block
To have your boy come home in a box
And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die
Yeah, I'm gonna tell my tale come on
Ah come on, ah, give a listen
'Cause I was born lonely down by the riverside
Learned to spin fortune wheels, and throw dice
I was just thirteen when I had to leave home
Knew I couldn't stick around, I had to roam
Ain't good looking, but you know I ain't shy
Ain't afraid to look a girl, yeah, in the eye
So if you need some lovin', and you need it right away
Take a little time out, and maybe I'll stay
But I got to ramble (ramblin' man)
Gamble (gamblin' man)
Ramble (ramblin' man)
Ramblin' (ramblin' man)
I was born a ramblin' gamblin' man
Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, ha-ha, oh bring it on, calm down
Yeah alright, here we go now, now, now
I'm out of money, 'course you know I need some
Ain't gon' run on lovin', ha I must run
Gotta keep moving, never gonna slow down
You can have your funky world, see you around
'Cause I got to ramble (ramblin' man)
Oh I got to gamble (gamblin' man)
I got to ramble (ramblin' man)
Know I'm a ramblin' gamblin' man
Oh, oh, just a rambler
Yeah, yeah, I'm just a gambler
Come on and sing along, 'cause I'm just a rambler
Ramblin' man (Lord I'm a gambler)
Gamblin' man (I'm a rambler)
Ramblin' man (yeah, I'm a rambler)
Gamblin' man (ha-ha, yeah yeah I'm a rambler)
HEHEHEHHEHEHE okay okay okay i have something really really funny to say let me figure out how to translate it to tumblr.
ms paint. okay hold on
JESUS 69!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHAHAHHA
[id: first image is a crude drawing of a cross labeled "cross". second image is a crude drawing of a cross labeled "inverted cross". last image has both the cross and inverted cross next to each other and is labeled "JESUS 69". end id.]
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It's the loneliest number since the number one
No is the saddest experience you'll ever know
Yes, it's the saddest experience you'll ever know
'Cause one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
One is the loneliest number, whoa-oh, worse than two
It's just no good anymore since you went away
Now I spend my time just making rhymes of yesterday
One is the loneliest number
One is the loneliest number
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
One is the loneliest
One is the loneliest
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
It's just no good anymore since you went away (number)
One is the loneliest (number)
One is the loneliest (number)
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do (number)
One is the loneliest (number)
One is the loneliest (number)
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do (number)
One (one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do)(number)
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do (number)
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do