I totally get the attraction of actually buying something physical, and it was fun as a kid to look through the stuff that came with an album. As is being discussed elsewhere about this article, it is similar to the difference between buying a physical book and an electronic one. I like that "new book" smell too, and I prefer reading on real paper, even though I spend all day reading on computer screens at work (and much of my time at home).
However, even as a kid, I'd probably only look through the album cover, liner notes, whatever maybe a few times, and then probably never looked at it again. I just wanted to put the music on so I could listen, and the album cover was just a means to an end. I would have traded that experience for "push a button and the album plays" in a heartbeat. There are some fond memories of artwork on the cover, etc -- and it is a valuable connection to the music -- because everyone remembers the Styx "Paradise Theatre" album cover, and connects it to the music that was on it.
"And then when you listen to an album on Vinyl, where it's practically impossible to skip forwards and backwards, you're de-facto an active participant in the whole endeavor. You enjoy the album as it's meant to be enjoyed, fully placing yourself at the mercy of the Artist who carefully constructed the order of songs."
^ a few things about this. First it really depended on the album/artist/producer who decided the order that the songs went in. For many albums it was not the artist. Producers often decided what was the "most commercially viable" and put those songs up front (or in whatever order fit their particular strategy). Some artists insisted on more control, but the record companies had a lot of power here, so I think those situations were more rare.
Second, dude, did you never pick up the needle and skip over a song? :D Didn't everyone either try to hit that tiny gap between songs to play your "favorite", or to pick up and skip one, or go back and repeat one? Of course, the "ultimate" solution was to record to cassette tape just the songs you wanted, and in whatever order you wanted them. Also, I personally don't find the lack of control of what plays in what order to be any value to me. If the music is good enough that I want to listen to the whole thing, it usually makes no difference to me what comes after what. The only exception to this might be, for those albums that are really that good that I listen to them over and over, I know which song is coming next when one finishes, so I can be prepared to sing along, or whatever. But I still see no need to give up control of the order of play just to experience this, I an just queue up the whole album on the electronic device of my choice and push 'play'.
Third, while it is true there were some artists that had an idea of an "experience" and wanted things laid out just so, I don't think most artists cared which order you listened to their songs in. In fact, musicians tend to be a lot more laid back than that. They don't care how you listen to their music, they are just happy if you are and that you get something out of it. It really depends on the artist, of course.