mastery and audience

One gets better over time as one masters a subject. Then how come the best artists' best albums are by far their first ones? Here are two possible explanations:

• An artist spends years preparing for the first album whose release immediately forges a large fan base which in turn demands a shorter production cycle.
• The truly talented artist becomes famous very quickly. The sudden shock unbalances his psychology, damages his work and creates a time pressure to cash in on the fame while it lasts.

Lesson: The road to mastery should have no audience.