Well, what d'ya know? A happy song!" explains Glenn Frey in his liner notes to this debut solo LP, enthusing over the sultry pump and sweet-and-sour soul picking of the lead-off track, "I Found Somebody." Well, what d'ya know? A happy ex-Eagle. Having been weighed down for ten years by the poisoned delights and sundown despair of the California dream, Frey–the high, resonant voice of "Lyin' Eyes," "New Kid in Town" and "Take it Easy" – now highlights his Detroit rock roots and R&B passion to prove he's really a party kind of guy.

He succeeds quite admirably. No Fun Aloud mixes soothing ballads, good-natured soul workouts and bar-brawl rockers with a relaxed, unpretentious ease that was missing from the Eagles' later, more Olympian statements. "All Those Lies," for example, is an artful combination of Eagles campfire voodoo (à la "Witchy Woman") and Al Green-style Memphis shuffle. Sandwiched between that and a knockabout cover of "Sea Cruise" is a striking Frey-Bob Seger weeper called "That Girl," in which Frey's understated vocal is dramatically colored by David Wolinski's distant organ trill and a string arrangement that sounds like a spring rain.

Elsewhere, you get such friendly surprises as a bullish reworking of Johnny Taylor's "I've Been Born Again"; the slow, romantic entreaty "I Volunteer," with its Booker T.-Steve Cropper organ and guitar touches; and "Partytown," the lively second cousin to the Eagles' "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks."

No Fun Aloud was recorded with a rotating pack of Memphis and L.A. session men. It could have benefited from more rhythmic punch, and it's marked by a rather barren sound mix. But if it doesn't hold up well in the long run, it will certainly do nicely if you're drinking a beer right now. (RS 375)

DAVID FRICKE