Max Webster was hard to heavy rock for people who liked a little, but not too much Zappa with their denim dandruff headbang diet.
A bit of a muso band (but so was/is Rush), they were held in high regard in Germany though cultish. Not as long faced serious as Rush who in the 80ies could be grating with their "
please take us serious and don't make jokes about our music, we work so hard for it" po-facedness. Geddy Lee would write letters to rock journals that he did not wish to be compared to David Lee Roth after one journal had written something jokey about a fictitious rock star called "Geddy Lee Roth".
Sometime in the 90ies and onwards, Rush discovered self-depracating humor and their gigs became much better for it.
I have always had an avid interest in the Canadian rock scene, hey, I own albums by Moxy and (nearly) all David Clayton-Thomas solo albums!!! Only recently, I bought a 5 CD set of the Guess Who (I already have everything from BTO). Plus a boxed set from Pat Travers, the man who intrepidly wished to duel the Sex Pistols in a joint live gig offering to play with just three strings on his guitar (and two strings on his bassist's bass). Herr Rotten and his mates didn't take the bait, but I think they appreciated the PR aspect of Travers' invitation, long-haired Canadians playing a bluesy guitar had a hard time getting headlines in the NME in 1977 so you had to be creative.
And yes, I'll buy that Max Webster Boxed Set in a heartbeat.
And if you're serious about Rush, you must have heard of Max Webster!