Let say if you hear a pure steady tone, A, 440 Hz, regard how it is played, it is still a 440 Hz pure tone. In the real life, notes are played with attack, then sustain, and fade out. By carefully arranging the music, reverse-played, or generally called reverse tape effects enhanced the music just like any other effects.
Reverse tape effects have been used in many music, and you may not have notice it. If you use youtube and search for Rouandabout Yes, you should find a song that uses that effect. Air supply used it too. If you listen to a reverse-played song, since there are many effects like fade-in/fade-out and that confuses thing.