King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s Omnium Gatherum: A Live, Nonnegotiable, Unbiased Review of the Greatest Band of All Time’s Newest and Greatest Album

For those not in the loop, Australia’s greatest modern rock band, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, has come out with their latest studio album. Formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 2010, King Gizzard has reached a significant milestone with this latest release: 20 studio albums. For those not familiar with their discography, King Gizzard does it all: folk-rock, jazz fusion, garage rock, progressive rock, psych-pop, psych-rock, surf rock, microtonal rock, thrash metal; this band is no stranger to delving into the unfamiliar, and, in most cases, they do a great job at it. Essentially, if one were to listen to all 20 of their albums, they would most likely find at least one that suits their taste. While a rundown of their discography deserves an article of its own, today, we are reviewing their newest album, Omnium Gatherum, which translates to “a collection of miscellaneous people or things.” In essence, this is exactly what it is: a double album consisting of a variety of genres to show off the versatility of an incredibly underrated band. Now, we will break down each song on the album to give our unbiased thoughts:

Track 1 – The Dripping Tap

The 18-minute-long intro comes right out of the gate sort of as an overture for the rest of the album, much like overtures in musical plays and movies like Whiplash and Jesus Christ Superstar, and is so-called “The Dripping Tap.” It has a melancholic and minor intro which leads to a masterfully played guitar solo, akin to that of Dire Straits “Telegraph Road,” quite possibly the greatest song ever written. The song then leads into its first and most soulful refrain, which, through metaphor, highlights the world’s dependence on oil. The band’s harmonica player, dual lead singer, and renowned actor, for example, sings, “The dripping tap won’t be turned off by the / Suits in charge of the world and our / Futures hanging on by a thread,” essentially saying that those in charge of the government and major corporations will do nothing to stop our dependence on oil and that our future is hanging on by a thread. After some more vocals, the song leads into more brilliant guitar playing and the song’s first chorus, once more emphasizing the issues of oil dependency.  Following even more instrumentals, the song leads into a perfectly timed refrain of the intro, this time much faster and upbeat. After another couple minutes of instrumentals, the song leads into the bridge, which essentially marks the midpoint of the 18 minutes. Expertly employing repetition, the song repeats the phrase, “Drip, drip from the tap don’t slip / Drip, drip from the tap don’t slip on the drip,” a whole 34 times. This really just demonstrates how brilliant the Australian band is. The song finishes with verse two and another chorus, once more reminding the listeners of the real meaning of the song (this is a really needed step as listeners would likely be in pure awe from the bridge). Finally, the song ends with the fastest and most major-key of the three refrains, which demonstrates how the song has progressed. 10/10

Track 2 – Magenta Mountain

Once more beginning with a slow intro, King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard employs synthesizer to give the song an almost haunting sound. Michael Cavanagh, the band’s drummer and older brother of Supreme Court Justice Brett Cavanagh, then plays a pickup leading into the song’s first verse, this time highlighting the horrible state the world will be in. Fun fact about the song—it is based on a dream that the lead singer had, in which he saw a magenta mountain. To this day, he is still trying to convince other band members, as well as the candid world, that magenta mountain is real and paradise. That being said, by the second bridge it is clear that the second singer is showing signs of insanity. He states, “I thought I saw a statue blink a bird with no head[…] / I rub my eyes / What am I saying? / There’s nothing there.” While it is hard to follow up a song like “The Dripping Tap,” which is just so masterfully done and might quite possibly be the greatest song ever made. This is the best song ever made. 10/10

Track 3 – Kepler-22b

I can’t believe they named a planet after this. Actually, I can, because this is the best song. The song has undertones of a much more modern and slightly jazzy beat, employing piano, drum, and light vocals. Then it ends. As former secretary of state and current user of louderthanwar.com Nathan Whittle says, “it has shuffling beats under beautiful wonderful harmonies, both of which make the song the greatest of all time.” I agree; much like the planet itself, Kepler-22b hugely surpasses the gravitational pull of the sun and is the best song ever made. 10/10

Track 4 – Gaia

First may I start by saying that blasphemy is never ok. But in this case it actually might be because the guitar and vocals in this song are absolutely sick. The rhythm guitar both mirrors and surpasses the works of notable metal artists such as Mick Gordon and Johann Bach, while the lyrics provide deep social commentary. If not for the unholy ideas it expresses, this would truly be the best song. 10/10

Track 5 – Ambergris

The fifth track of the album, and following one of the greatest songs ever made, “Ambergris,” greatly contrasts to the previous song. It employs a funny jazz and lounge beat, with undertones of a walking slap bass line and lo-fi guitar. Despite this, the new greatest song ever made still keeps the album’s general meaning, e.g. Earth is dying and humans are killing it, beginning with, “Preserve the torch; its imperative / So douse some fuel on the fire.” 10/10

Track 6 – Sadie Sorceress

This track will blow you away. Taking clear inspiration from renowned, yet inferior rap bands like the Beastie Boys and Journey, lead singer Stu Mackenzie drops bar after bar about whatever this song is about. What I do know, however, is that we need more of band member Ambrose Smith’s grandma, speaking out the lines of the infamous “Sadie Sorceress.” I was too busy browsing Linkedin© to listen to the lyrics, but whatever they are, I am sure they are both exhilarating and poignant. 10/10

Track 7 – Evilest Man

This track is truly massive – the Evilest Man would not even deny that. Employing blaring, distorted guitar and heavy synths to emphasize their disapproval of Rupert Murdoch, an Australian businessman, King Gizzard has cracked the formula of making a well-rounded and groovy song, making this the best song ever made – it truly has something for everyone. While I don’t like the idea of subliminally brainwashing fans into disliking Rupert Murdoch, I have to agree after listening to the song: I do not like Rupert Murdoch. Despite its serious undertones, the synths on this track make it truly memorable, making a controversial topic an easy listen. 10/10

Track 8 – The Garden Goblin

As a close friend of mine, postglaceon, writes, “THIS SONG GOES SO [very] HARD.” One of the few songs sung by CookieDawg in the Gizzard discography, his unique voice provides a memorable listen – this is the best song. The synthesizers, prevalent and upbeat, accentuate the “Garden Goblin,” and the saxophone towards the end, while at first listen sounding like a profusion of random notes, adds a great deal to the theme of the song and its odd time signatures. After multiple listens, I wholeheartedly agree with postglaceon: this song goes so [very] hard. 10/10

Track 9 – Blame It On The Weather

This song has a good solo at the end. It goes like “dodo dodah dowowowo wawa doo Blame it on the weather dodo da Blame it on the weather dodo da Blame it on the weather…”  Unfortunately, the repetition is not at the same level as “The Dripping Tap,” repeating “Blame it on the weather” a meager 24 separate times compared to the 34 consecutive lines of “Drip, drip on the tap don’t slip.” Still, one cannot fail to find the numerous rhetorical strategies that envelop this song, such as repetition and parallelism – these lyrics should definitely be the next passage on the AP Lang exam. Overall, this song is just barely able to dethrone “The Garden Goblin” as the greatest song of all time. 10/10

Track 10 – Persistence

I have nothing to say. Well, except that the song begins with an upbeat tempo and smooth instrumentals paired with slightly atonal vocals, something which King Gizzard is known for. The chorus marks the start of the song, employing metaphor and repetition to compare the singer to a race car. He sings, “Oh baby, I got persistence / Keep pushing like the Ford motor pistons / Oh baby, I got persistence / I’m an automatic transmission / Oh baby, I got persistence / I hold the pole position / Oh baby, I got persistence / Yeah, I go the distance.” This song is shockingly bland, which is out of character for a band like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, who typically employ atonal chords and unusual time signatures in their music. Using a 4/4 time signature and generic chord progression, this song hugely contrasts the rest of the album and is extremely monotonous and insipid, as well as completely out of place. Additionally, this song only repeats itself 18 times, considerably less than “The Dripping Tap” and even “Blame It On The Weather”— truly pitiful. This song is aptly named, however, as King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard shows persistence in their ability to continually eclipse their previous works, as this is the best song on the album. 10/10

Track 11 – The Grim Reaper

Just like “Sadie Sorceress,” track 11, “The Grim Reaper” features more rap very similar to that of the much more inferior Beastie Boys and Playboi Carti. As a fellow anonymous music reviewer said, “The song has an incredible flow and cadence to it, and the lizard of the group never stops for a breath, and it’s ridiculously catchy. The beat is smooth, his voice fits amazingly well, and the sample is just ear candy. The only con on my mind is I have no clue what he is saying. He goes very fast and it’s basically just a lot of rhyming words, so I didn’t take away much substance from it.” Overall, this song is just amazing, the best ever made—big fan! 10/10

Track 12 – Presumptuous

This is presumptuously the best song on the album. 10/10

Track 13 – Predator X

Another heavy metal song like “Gaia,” “Predator X” employs a great amount of thrash metal, grind metal, and death metal. As a fan of other death metal bands like The Beatles and the Wurzels, there is not much more I can say other than: this song is incredible, the best ever, even. 10/10

Track 14 – Red Smoke 

Nevermind, THIS is the best song. 10/10

Track 15 – Candles

Elevator music at its peak. Jack Sicat, taking time from his busy orchestra rehearsals, commented, “This sounds like a song from Phineas and Ferb.” 10/10

Track 16 – Funeral

As just the closing song, this epic finale to possibly the greatest album of all time is OK, I guess. 7/10

Conclusion

Overall, after averaging the scores given to each individual song, we give this album a 98.125%. It’s just OK.