Think of all of those great, innovative musicians that were great through most of the 70's (David Bowie, Peter Hammill and Neil Young come immediately to my mind) and went on to suck big logs in the next decade. Most of them are still around and intermittently making good records, but no-one expects career defining stuff from them anymore. Why should the Drude - one of very few true innovators in the 80s - be any different? As others have said in this thread, we're lucky to have him still around and doing his much-varied thang which, even in its now homemade and under-produced state, rarely disappoints and more often entertains big time.

For my own part, being of a certain age (ahem), it's the two proper Teardrops albums and the first two solo albums that represent my first choice Cope, with all of the albums from 'Peggy Suicide' to 'Interpreter' getting the most regular spins. I have bought and mostly liked the subsequent solo stuff but to be honest nothing since (including his myriad side projects) has thrilled me to the extent of his early 80's and 90's output, except perhaps for the excellent 'Trip Advizer' comp which is a fine a precis of his 21st century solo work as I can imagine. I'm also really digging 'Self Civil War' which sounds to me like a lovely amalgam of Julian's most considered work and the 'Droolian'/'Skellington' spur of the moment stuff. Hey, the Drude's still delivering the goods. Feel the love.