[breakall]

This reminds me of the hours I spend poring over the Allmusic Guide to Rock I had borrowed from the local library, tracing backwards from Van Halen, Nirvana, and Beastie Boys to discover their influences. I had taken piano lessons for several years and had learned Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Debussy — sometimes tracing back led me to what I had learned on piano.

I agree that working backwards can lead to wonderful discoveries. What can be difficult to grasp as you go back is what the music sounded like at the time—how an album sounded because it was the first time musicians had made that sound.