Most popyuler bands are gone or forgotten by their seventh studio album. Those that survive are probably thrashing around, trying to find something new to say. The November release of The Darkness' "Motorheart" absolutely compelled comparisons with another seventh slab by another hard-rock band what likes its pop, Kiss, whose "Dynasty" arrived in 1979. Although we were too busy with PiL and Joy Division to bother with so-uncool Kiss at the time, now we're contrite: "Dynasty" is a ton of fun.
One band is English, the other American. One has a sense of humor, the other does not. But both are theatrical and adaptable, and the two sevens hold quite a few lucky commonalities.
* Both 'Motorheart" and "Dynasty" start with rumbling bass before the crunch kicks in.
* Both bands are scrambling to suck up influences that might engorge the fan base. The Darkness taps punk, AC/DC, Bowie funk and even the Cars. Kiss grabs from the Four Tops, Alice Cooper, Roxy Music, Joan Jett and especially disco, the crossover potential of which had been demonstrated the previous year by the Rolling Stones' "Miss You."
* Speaking of Rolling, Kiss rocks up the Stones' bouncy 1967 "2,000 Man," whose narrator brags he's having an affair with a computer. The title tune of "Motorheart" mines the same thematic shaft. Let's not forget that we've been craving to bang our devices for ages -- Ace Frehley (who sings "2,000") surely witnessed Julie Christie's filmic impregnation by a mainframe in 1977's "The Demon Seed," directed by Donald Cammell, who also directed Mick Jagger in 1970's "Performance."
* Both albums enjoy spacy interludes and falsetto vocals, though BeeGee shrieks are not news in the case of Darkness singer Justin Hawkins, who has owned that territory since the death of Freddie Mercury.
* Both albums sport supertight drumming -- "Motorheart" via Rufus Taylor (son of Queen's Roger, thanks again) and "Dynasty" via Anton Fig, subbing for Peter Criss, who was too injured/trashed to play. You could even say the drumming is a little too tight to represent either band's roughshod tradition.
* Both albums deliver rockin' guitar solos, especially Justin's crazed workout on "Welcome Tae Glasgae" and Frehley's charged melodicism on "Hard Times."
* Both albums are notable for their lyrics: "Motorhead" for clever stuff like "I hope she falls in love before she gets to know me"; "Dynasty" for dumb stuff like "You were my woman and I was your man."
* Both The Darkness' "Nobody Can See Me Cry" and Kiss' "Save Your Love" refer to lamentable situations where the rock star's girlfriend is getting more attention than he is.
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Unlike Kiss, The Darkness has not resorted to industry-insider producers (Vini Poncia) or Top Gun songwriters (Desmond Child). But despite thrilling moments such as the headlong "It's Love, Jim," the heavy waltz "Sticky Situations" and the genuinely moving country strummer "So Long," "Motorheart" lacks the grabby immediacy of "Dynasty," which was conceived in career desperation and born from the hellish womb of corporate commercialism. Hey, The Darkness boys are hugely talented, more talented than Kiss in fact. Somebody throw a few million at 'em.