In Brief : <i> New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).</i>

*** Warrant, “Dog Eat Dog,” Columbia. The pop-metal band does an about-face, abandoning its tales of womanizing and debauchery. It’s not easy to seem rebellious while you’re trying to be sensitive and serious, but Warrant largely rises to the occasion, despite seeming tentative on some cuts. Transitional, image-cleansing albums like this are often stiff, stuffy bores that alienate a band’s hard-core audience, which wants no part of reform. But Warrant manages to upgrade while cranking out some solid hard rock.