I find that most people (non hardcore fans) have their fondest memories of Prince when they were 15-20 yrs old. It's probably just a maturity/coming-of-age thing - the first time you experience a true artist.

After that, people grow up and become boring and tend to scoff at his newer work - "It's OK, but it's not as good as SOTT" etc. Unfortunately these people can never re-create their youth. Without an open mind, everything he puts out will be dissapointing.

What we don't realise now, is that there is probably (hopefully!) a huge new breed of Prince fans that had their first Princely experience during the Musicology era. They're just starting out on their journey without even realising it. In 5 years time, the org will be full of them... "Musicology was the greatest album and tour he ever did... his new alum ____ is crap compared to Musicology"!!

Oh, and for the record, I'm down with Prince for life... but I've said that about other artists in the past that I now don't care about, so who knows!
[Edited 1/11/06 15:44pm]

for a man who used to be "a control freak" about his music, a perfectionist
and an obsessive musician, he sure doesn't seem to give a fuck about his
creations anymore, or the way they are represented to the new generations
of music lovers (whom he keeps adressing in concert and whom he asks us all
to invite to his music).