* Vanilla Ice, “Hard to Swallow,” Republic/Universal.

As if his earlier music wasn’t. . . . Ice returns with a mix of hard-core hip-hop sentiments and heavy-metal-like musical backing. The rapper, whose 1990 single “Ice Ice Baby” made him one of the biggest-selling and most-ridiculed performers the genre has ever produced, scream-raps pitifully over angry tracks from Korn producer Ross Robinson about his numerous struggles. In stores Tuesday.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.