I can only speak for myself, but I don't get much satisfaction from the simple continuation of a style that a band has. When I listen to a new album, I want to hear something I haven't heard before.
Many people will disagree, but to me "old DT" did exactly that, whereas new DT just doesn't. They boxed themselves in, and are sticking with it.
With a new JP solo album, I am guaranteed to hear a side of JP that we haven't seen in a long time, and that above all makes it interesting to me.