[7] Wilder aimed to make a commercial album that did not betray the sound of his debut; he also wanted to use his bigger budget to experiment in the studio.

"[12] The Ottawa Citizen wrote that "Wilder has an uncontrolled B-movie mentality that takes his Chuck Berry licks through detective thriller and Sci-Fi territory.

"[14] The Edmonton Journal called Hybrid Vigor "snappy, off-the-wall, way cool hard rock written by people who know the definition of irony but also know when to lay off and simply turn the volume up.

"[18] The Vancouver Sun considered it "a pedal-to-the-metal blast of trashed-up rhythm and boozy rock, all nasty licks and hilarious little lyrics.

"[19] The Houston Chronicle noted that the album "threatens to out-Stone the Stones with its raunchy, twangy, hard-charging attack that adds up to pure unadulterated rock 'n' roll.