For many of the age of 30 to 45, Prince represents the last great artist with musical/influential ties to the musical giants that are revered Gods...

The James Brown/Sly Stone/George Clinton/Stevie Wonder contingent...He is connected to acts that represented an era where the talent was all there (think Chaka and the like)...The acts whose work have now become historical folklore....

So Prince is placed under the microscope much in the same way that say Paul Mac (Mr. Beatles) was during the '80s...It happens..

But here's the rub....Even during Stevie's, Paul's, ect's up and down period of albums no one ever said they didn't matter...No one ever said they were a joke...They just said that Stevie's In Square Circle work was not as creative as say Music of My Mind...Which is a "no shit" conclusion....

Yes, as others have said in this post, the fact that Prince has released music at a relentless pace and the fact that he has been an asshole has contributed to much of the two-fisted criticism...So I get that...

My issue is with the more excessive critique of Prince's later work has been the laziness of it all...

When I hear people say that Diamonds & Pearls was Prince's worst album I laugh...Shit ain't no much different than say MJ's Dangerous...Both artists' attempt to stay "current'...And both becoming successful commercially on their current musical takes...

To me, when it all comes down to it Prince's issue has been Prince...

He dominated his '80s era so brilliantly, so fearlessly, so cutting edge, and with so much controversy that he had nowhere else to go but down....