When word got around that Tommy Lee's first solo album, Never a Dull Moment, would be coming out in May 2002, fans didn't know what to expect.

Would the album pick up where Lee's Methods of Mayhem project of 1999 left off? Or would it, by some chance, recall his years with Mötley Crüe? The latter seemed unlikely because when Lee left Mötley Crüe in the late '90s, he had obviously grown frustrated with that band and was yearning to try something totally different.

As it turns out, Never a Dull Moment is neither a carbon copy of Methods of Mayhem nor a return to a Mötley Crüe-like sound.

The material on this fairly diverse CD (which Lee produced with Scott Humphrey) generally falls into the alternative metal and alternative rock categories; many of the tunes are hip-hop-influenced, but few of them are straight-up rap-metal in the Limp Bizkit/Korn/(hed) pe/Kid Rock vein.

And for the most part, Never a Dull Moment sounds more organic than Methods of Mayhem's 1999 album, which gave the impression that Lee was trying a little too hard to be contemporary (by late-'90s standards) and prove to the world that there was more to him than "Shout at the Devil" and "Girls, Girls, Girls"; even so, Methods of Mayhem's debut was, despite its imperfections, one of the more memorable rap-metal efforts of 1999.

But on Never a Dull Moment, a 39-year-old Lee sounds like he has grown more comfortable in his new rap-influenced, techno-influenced alterna-metal/alterna-rock wardrobe -- and that wardrobe ranges from raucous, in-your-face party jams ("Higher," "Face to Face") to songs that are tuneful and surprisingly thoughtful ("Ashamed," "Hold Me Down").

Not every track on Never a Dull Moment is a five-star gem, but more often than not, the CD is an exciting, inspired reminder of Lee's desire to forge ahead.