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Lyonel is a project run by one Tato Rivas, who handled all the songwriting and instruments outside of some guest spots and the vocals, here handled by ex-Midnight Prophecy singer Craig Cairns. The music itself goes for a very '80s commercial sound with a modern gloss over it, complete with singalong choruses, guitar work with a kick of sleaze in it, and singing that finds itself somewhere between Vince Neil and Dee Snider. The playing is competent, the production is smooth and lacks punch, and the songwriting is safe and not all that engaging. That's not to say this entirely without interest, as some of the leads are pretty good and Cairn's raucous performance gives the songs more life than they'd otherwise have. However, there isn't anything here that'll stick out as memorable outside of some decent instrumentals in "2 Hours to Go" and "Hard to Destroy", a couple of violins scattered about, and the awful poppy ballad "I Am Not Wild". Rivas clearly cares about his music, and it sounds like he had a lot of fun making this, but I just didn't have that much fun listening to it.