EVOL opened up a world for me. I had already gone from pop like the Cars and the Police (say what you will about their vacuousness, I still think Copeland's drumming was nifty) through gateway drugs like the Toy Dolls and Ramones, but that was all the same sort of pop-rock formula, just more exciting. And a good thing, that. But hearing the sounds they got out of guitars, and how the song arrangements were different from the usual formula, that was like having good coffee or beer for the first time, in the 80's before it became normal. It was just completely different, and raised expectations for everything that came after.
I don't get the bit about referencing older work, that's indeed what it's about. Who doesn't?
-- Andy