Casting the ill-advised attempts at too-clean modern rock from his late-'80s days firmly aside and fulfilling the promise of Skellington and Droolian, Cope on Peggy Suicide produced his best album to date, overtopping even his Teardrop Explodes efforts. Showing a greater musical breadth and range than ever before, from funk to noise collage -- and more importantly, not sounding like a dilettante at any step of the way -- Cope and his now seasoned backing band, with drummer J.D. Hassinger in and De Harrison out, surge from strength to strength. Ostensibly conceived as a concept album regarding potential ecological and social collapse, Cope wisely seeks to set moods rather than create a straitjacketed story line. As a result, Peggy Suicide can be enjoyed both as an overall statement and as a collection of individual songs; its sequencing is excellent to boot, moving from song to song as if it was always meant to be that way. Cope's voice is a revelation -- for those not having heard the hard-to-find Skellington and Droolian, his conversational asides, bold but not full-of-itself singing, and equally tender, softer takes when the material demands it must have seemed like a complete turnaround from the restrained My Nation Underground cuts. He handles all the guitar as well, with Skinner concentrating on bass and keyboards; guest Michael "Moon-Eye" Watts does some fine fretbending as well, including an amazing performance on the awesome "Safesurfer," a lengthy meditation on AIDS and its consequences. Picking out only some highlights does the album as a whole a disservice, but besides offering up an instant catchy pop single, "Beautiful Love," Cope handles everything from the minimal moods of "Promised Land" and experimentation of "Western Front 1992 CE" to the frenetic "Hanging Out and Hung Up on the Line" and commanding "Drive, She Said." An absolute, stone-cold rock classic, full stop. -- Ned Raggett (allmusic.com)

Mother Earth is an enormous figure who is both proud and confused. Standing at the edge of oblivion, she is ready to cast herself off, take all of her problems with her, and end the sadness and pain that has been inflicted on her by mankind. But why? Julian Cope tries to offer some insight on his double album personification, 83 minutes worth of the most cohesive work that this former Teardrop Explodes crooner has ever put together. His first domestic release since 1988, Peggy Suicide runs the gamut from intellectual terrorism, environmental pollution, the poll-tax, relationships and AIDS. The constant here is the burning breath of Cope's psychedelic pop, stripped down to just basic acoustics in spots, and revved up to fit the passion of the moment in others, leaving a lot to the imagination and the individual's acumen without being tied down by expected pop formulas. Peggy Suicide gets serious without preaching, abstract with a sense of humor, and risky with a clear vision of what he is trying to say and how he tries to say it. There are 19 Cope-ian visions to chose from, but start with the charming calypso bounce of "Beautiful Love," "Safe-surfer," "Double Vegetation," "Hanging Out And Hung Up On The Line" and the LSD trip of "Not Waving But Drowning," with many more stops just waiting to be investigated.