Signing to the Def Jam subsidiary American Recordings for a one-off album deal, Cope recorded "Autogeddon", which was released in 1994. Continuing to build on the musical approach of "Peggy Suicide" and "Jehovahkill" but with a greater element of space rock, the album used the automobile as its central metaphor for individual and collective struggles between responsibility and selfishness, along with further stabs at patriarchy. "Autogeddon" was the first Cope album to feature synthesizer player Thighpaulsandra, who would become another key Cope collaborator. In the same year, Cope and Thighpaulsandra would form the ambient-electronic project Queen Elizabeth: the eponymous "Queen Elizabeth" album was released on the Echo Label, Cope's mainstream home for the next two years.