Helping A Newbie With An Artist

Many times here, I've seen noobs ask how to "get into" a particular artist, and I see the same suggestion over and over: "Start from the beginning..."

Really? I see this particularly with an artist like Zappa, and I disagree wholeheartedly.

Ya know, "accessible" isn't a dirty word. When it comes to music, accessible means help somebody who doesn't know what he's getting into, by suggesting some sort of starting point, not ramming the whole catalogue down their throat. To the greenhorn, you should consider their comfort zone at first, so they may grow to understand the pleasures they have yet to experience.

I accept the young listener at his word, that he may have heard something more commercial than the artists' best work, and my first suggestion might be to help that person find something similar to the work he first was intrigued by; the album will doubtless open that listener up to new pleasures.

I don't want to share my current faves with that listener yet, until I get that the person may be ready for it. What's wrong with holding back great music suggestions until you know the listener will have the ammunition in his head to get the same bang out of it, eh?

What say you? Is this being elitist, or helpful?