Completely disagree. You can love someone unconditionally but are honest and objective enough to know when they have not done their best. There is no purity test of who is a bigger or "real" fan.
I LOVE OSOTM and Street Angel which are probably the most unpopular of the bunch. However, I hate RAL and think its one of the worst albums of the entire 80's. It has nothing to do with being "dated." Its when Stevie sacrificed her craft for a non-stop party atmosphere in the studio. Her voice was raw, the songs were not hers, and slick record company execs pushed for a more pop sound with very few real musical instruments. I always got a deep personal connection to Stevie's songs. I did not want to break dance to Sister Honey
That honesty makes me more of a fan than some who embrace Stevie when she is not Stevie or very un-Stevie.
To answer the OP's question: I too have been following along since 1981. I loved WH but less than Bella Donna. I pretended to like RAL because I was such an obsessed fan since it was the cult thing to do. OSOTM was such a bounce back IMHO. From the moment I heard Rooms on Fire, I was blown away. OMG a real Stevie song again with real musical instruments! Her voice was not fried and there are much better songs on OSOTM than RAL let alone the music. I even loved Sometimes Its A Bitch. Street Angel is a favorite. I am not thrilled about In Your Dreams and 24K Gold though.