I Expect
This one is a good one.
Or at least today's Gene double pack has the potential to be such, but that really depends entirely on how you choose to view the matter, because neither of our two kandidates has a notable reputation as a krowd favorite, nor will they be found on any personal best list of any linear-thinking Kiss konservative, which anyway only serve to snuggle down deep into their personal komfort zone. If I may say so.
But to each his own, my dear fellow enthusiasts, as I for my part just say Great Expectations (1976) and I Confess (1997), two of my personal favorites. Got interested anyway? Excellent, so why don’t we get together and have a little listening party in our minds’ eye? That’s the most fun way to do it anyway, isn’t it?
The focus here is of course on the fact that both verses make use of one and the same buildup and therefore also follow an equally related dramaturgy. Kinda, as if one and the same person was encountered on two completely different days, and thus confronted with two quite different states of mind, you know what I mean?
This character will certainly remain true to the self-chosen role he uses to define her or himself, behaving only in accordance with the external circumstances. So, the basis and foundation of the respective songwriting remains the same in both cases, only that both strive in fairly different directions, to put it mildly.
It’s a bit like what folks mean by growing up. The older and more conventional they become, the more they develop roles and facades to slip into, but deep down, they essentially remain fundamentally pure and the same. Whether that also applies to the groupie from Great Expectations is open to debate, but it certainly applies to Kiss, at least in this one case.
After all, on Carnival of Souls, they too eventually grew up – even if only for a few moments.
The highlighted links are dying to be heard, by the way:
I Confess (1997)
Great Expectations (1976)