I remember it getting quite a lot of props at the time but was more into Vladislav Delay so it felt like a commercial foil. When I heard it was getting re-released it was like, OK, makes sense because it's so much like stuff that followed afterwards. But because it happened in v. much isolation at the time you didn't think it was breaking new ground, more that it was an offshoot that no one would follow (while nice and groovy - the Finnish guy whose name escapes me always had a way with the funk.)
Personally for me when it comes to click house etc it was the Farben stuff that really made the genre separate from the Basic Channel stuff it came from - it was like all the glitch IDM, but put in a 4/4 house straight jacket. Ultimately from there, Clicks 'n' Cuts and then Kompakt's releases etc. were a logical progression, I think.