Nice review, but I still haven't heard
Snakes and Ladders, but I remember being let down by
Vapour Trails, the production was just so loud, in relation to the singing and playing.
It's good to hear your experiences about these bands when you heard them for the first time back in the 1970s. Most of these bands I heard about in the 1980s. In the case of Rush, I always as a kid thought they must've been a heavy metal band
Because at the time as you probably know, most headbangers would be walking around with denim jackets with those sew-in type badges covering the jacket with stuff like Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Whitesnake and the Scorpions etc, and quite often I'd see a Rush badge. So when I first heard a Rush song around 83/84 It was "The Body Electric" from
Grace Under Pressure and I quickly realized that they weren't a metal band. I much later discovered about their hard rock and progressive roots.