I think that what you stated about youth as the peak of artistry is true but just let me do some consideration:
1) Artists, when still young, are much braver and more experimenters with their output as they are more open to their contemporary tastes and more prone to changes of opinion and exchanges with other artist. This leads often to more eclectic products.
2) Growing and aging tastes become more stable and artists that has figured the field that interest them more and that they find themselves more comfortable and productive with tend to stick with it.
3) Critic and popular opinion tend to identify an artist that has already had a very great success with its most appreciated works, and the artist too tends to identify themselves with it. Probably someone that already has had a very great work tends to keep to what has been considered their successful formula.
4) Also the audience tastes are more open and eclectic when young and when they still doesn't have a defined taste. Growing up and aging if the audience stick to their favourite artist doesn't appreciate their straying novelty
5) Fans that have accompanyed an artist since their beginnig share a special bond with their earlier work, that set a too high standard for later outputs.
6) A lot of fans with the passing of time has lost that special bond with music that you have when you are very young and with no preoccupation and all your life revolves around hang out with friends and listening to music.
7) I think that 24 K Gold unify the best quality of each Stevie's time pole, her naive and straight-forward creativity from her youth and the wisdom, precision and confidence of her maturity.
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