whaaaaat i cant not listen to the grays for like 2 days i love that song...

dev dont h8 on yourself

dev dont h8 on yourself

I don't think he is.

Regardless, I feel that Ziltoid is a big album, but not in the same way as say Terria or Ocean Machine. It's more about things behind the music than the music itself. It took me awhile to really get into it because of that, but I can certainly appreciate it now. The only real criticism I have is that the drums aren't very dynamic.

I don't think Dev is criticizing himself either...I never really thought of Ziltoid as being too horribly lighthearted. It is, of course, packaged in a way that can be seen as funny, because there are a lot of voice overs and dialogue that everyone knows was written to seem ridiculous. Like most good humor, though, Ziltoid was about something much more important than an alien going for a cup of coffee. To be quite honest, I haven't quite figured out what it means to me yet, but I certainly keep trying. I have probably listened to Ziltoid 40 times since its release, and I still ponder the beauty of its layering and color dynamics every time. One of my favorites.

Ziltoid is not as light hearted, nor as funny as it appears.

I'm terrible with metaphors and such, but once you said it was a metaphor for drugs, a LOT of the album made sense and made it WAAAAAY cooler to listen to for some reason.

I'm glad to hear that comment from you, Dev. I prefer to regard Ziltoid as a relatively serious work with some lighthearted elements. Thematically, I find it extremely heavy.

"You say you wanna know!"

I think it's hilarious and deep at the same time. I fucking love The Greys, by far my favorite song off the album.

Ziltoid is not as light hearted, nor as funny as it appears.

Must be frustrating that some people can't see that just because of the way it's presented.

Ziltoid was a great addition for me, mainly something that when I listen to I'd listen to as a whole, rather than just a track or two. Glad you kind of confirmed my thoughts about the album.

does anyone share the experience that ziltoid works on a very subtle level? behind the funny dialogue and guitar wankery, there's an aspect of that music that makes it work wonders if you're in a sleepy, or partly-conscious state. it's like the music connects not so much to the consciousness, but to the sub-consciousness of the listener. try listening to it while taking a nap.
i put it back on yesterday and found that very many melody lines, especially those in the background (but really almost the entire album), move in waves, oscillating up and down, which makes me think of electrons and atoms and energy. in that way, the music on that record has a connection to the nature of things that i've never heard anywhere before.
to me, ziltoid is one of devins greatest albums, and it was kind of a relief after accelerated evolution and synchestra, which i couldn't relate to as much.
infinity and ocean machine and city had a very mystical, deep feeling to them that still amazes me, and i find ziltoid to pick that string back up again. real drums could have made it even better, though.
and hyperdrive, by your command and the greys are three of my top twenty songs ever. terrific album, and i guess it will stay that way.

Ziltoid is not as light hearted, nor as funny as it appears.

I can see that...Especially in "The Greys" and "Color Your World"

Ziltoid is not as light hearted, nor as funny as it appears.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but my impression of Ziltoid is that he's an allegory for your personal demons, or the part of your personality that's caused some trouble for you and the people around you, or something like that.
It's definitely self-parody. And the fact that Ziltoid is a puppet reminds me of that puppeteer-guy in Being John Malkovich who's puppet shows would be like projections of himself.

Ziltoid for me has always been a journey of self discovery. Ziltoid's quest is to become the greatest guitar player of all time but he goes through an identity crises (N9) and realises he just wants to know who he is as a being (Omnidimensional Creator). And although ambiguous, in the end I think Ziltoid ends up confronting his insecurities for better or for worse, (The Greys) and that may just be the message of the album. But thats just my opinion. The album definitely contains some very heavy themes

I really love it....I could listen to the whole album on my way to teaching, it was great.

Musically I think it's fantastic

Musically I think it's fantastic

I couldn't agree more!

Musically and lyrically, it's my second favourite, only beaten by The Wall. I think I have a thing for thematically heavy concept albums. I wasn't sure that I wasn't making up ideas that weren't there in Color Your World and The Greys by considering it one before though.

Ziltoid is not as light hearted, nor as funny as it appears.

I wondered about that. The part where (I think) the omnidimensional creator sings 'You're all puppets' seems pretty serious to me when I listen to it. Almost like something is taking away your ability to choose for yourself..... Although some of the album is humourous. I guess like life or Shakespeare, every comedy has some tragedy and vice versa.