Hard to Swallow

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Hard to Swallow
Hard to Swallow cover
Studio album by Vanilla Ice
Released October 20, 1998
Recorded 1997-1998
Genre Alternative metal, nu metal, rapcore
Length 49:46
Label Republic/Universal Records
Producer Ross Robinson
Professional reviews
Vanilla Ice chronology
Back 2 Back Hits
(1998)		 Hard to Swallow
(1998)		 The Best of Vanilla Ice
(1999)
Singles from Hard to Swallow
  1. "Too Cold"
    Released: 1998

Hard to Swallow is the fifth studio album by Vanilla Ice. Released on October 20, 1998, the album was the first album the performer recorded after a four year hiatus following the 1994 release of Mind Blowin. Previously known for performing pop-influenced hip-hop, Hard to Swallow instead featured what Vanilla Ice described as "skate rock", but has more commonly been described as nu metal or rapcore by critics.

The album was produced by Ross Robinson, who had worked with bands such as Deftones, Korn, and Sepultura. By working with Robinson, Vanilla Ice was able to capture the sound he had been looking for while performing as a member of a Miami grunge band. Although Republic Records believed that the album would revive Vanilla Ice's career, it received negative reviews.

Contents

[edit] History

Robert Van Winkle, better known under the stage name Vanilla Ice, was briefly a member of a band called Pickin' Scabs, which Van Winkle described as being "like a grunge band."[1] Van Winkle had wanted to perform more hip hop-influenced rock music, but states that the band "didn't know how to play this sound that I was looking for." During a conversation with Monty Lipman, a founder of Republic Records and former SBK Records promoter, Lipman asked if Van Winkle had heard of Ross Robinson. When Van Winkle told him that he wasn't, Lipman told Van Winkle some of the bands that Robinson had worked with, such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, Sepultura and Deftones, and that Robinson was interested in working with Van Winkle.[1]

Van Winkle states that he and Robinson were "totally clicking right off the bat" when it was discovered that they both shared an interest in motorcross racing.[1] According to Robinson, others had attempted to persuade him not to produce the album. "People kept saying to me, 'It might hurt your name, it might hurt your reputation. I said, 'Then I'm doing it.' It's the most punk-rock thing you could do."[2] Van Winkle states that "It's unbelievable how this whole thing just came about. I really believe that it was an action of God. God pushing my wave and riding it. And Ross is one of those people and Monty is one of those people that God put in front of me and I'm being blessed right now."[1]

[edit] Production

"Stompin' Through the Bayou" (sample)

An example of the sound of Hard to Swallow.
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

In the early stages of the album's development, Hard to Swallow was initially promoted as an album of "high-energy hip-hop."[3][4] Republic Records later described the album's musical style as "aggressive rock" in the stages preceding the album's release.[4] Vanilla Ice referred to the album's musical style as "skate rock."[5]

The album was described by CNN as a "shrill confessional" on which the performer "flays his '80s persona, his fractured family and Attention Deficit Disorder, which he has."[6] The album features a noticeably darker sound and lyrical subject matter than Vanilla Ice's previous albums, such as To The Extreme and Mind Blowin. Van Winkle states "It wasn't intended to be so dark. I opened up to Ross and I told him a lot of things that happened to me in the past. It was like, really deep conversation, and he was like, you should write about that. And I was like, dude, I didn't want people to judge me for that. But he was right. It was like total therapy."[6]

Many critics have noticed a similarity between the style of music present on Hard to Swallow and that of bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit.[6][7] Van Winkle states that although he knew of the bands, he "didn't even listen to [...] any of them" before he made the album, and he was not trying to imitate the musical style of the bands. "It's just we have the same producer, and some of the guitars between that and Limp Bizkit are gonna sound similar. That's what happens when you've got the same guy producing them."[1] Van Winkle stated of working with Ross Robinson, "The vibe was totally so cool. We had the album finished in a month and a half because we kept the vibe."[6]

Initial publicity claimed that the album would feature guest appearances by Lenny Kravitz and members of Korn and the Bloodhound Gang.[4][8] Only the latter band's lead vocalist, Jimmy Pop, appeared on the final album.[4] Preceding the release of the album, executives at Republic Records compared Vanilla Ice's career direction to the revival of actor John Travolta as a result of the success of the 1994 film Pulp Fiction, and believed that Vanilla Ice would be similarly successful.[5]

[edit] Response

Reviews were generally negative. Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that "If history is any guide, Vanilla Ice's adoption of rap-metal means that hard rock is about to move on."[9] Rolling Stone gave the album two out of five stars, writing that while "nothing, however, can redeem Ice's wack boasting," the album "isn't half-bad."[10] The Iowa State Daily called the album "the greatest pop culture comeback of all time".[11] The album appeared on The A.V. Club's list of the "Least Essential Albums of the '90s,"[12] and at number 26 on Q's list of the "50 Worst Albums Ever!"[13] Vanilla Ice released a follow-up album, Bi-Polar, in 2001, which continued the performer's artistic and career direction.[14]

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Living" — 3:45
  2. "Scars" — 4:56
  3. "Ecstacy" — 0:09
  4. "Fuck Me" — 4:32
  5. "Valley Of Tears" — 0:12
  6. "Zig Zag Stories" — 5:26
  7. "Too Cold" — 3:24
  8. "Prozac" — 4:27
  9. "S.N.A.F.U." — 4:46
  10. "A.D.D." — 5:14
  11. "Stompin' Through the Bayou" — 3:24
  12. "The Horny Song" — 4:33
  13. "Freestyle" — 4:58

[edit] Album credits

  • Ross Robinson — Producer, Mixing
  • Chuck Johnson — Recording Engineer, Mixing
  • Rob Agnello — Sound Engineer
  • Eddy Schreyer — Mastering
  • Gene Grimaldi — Editing, Assembly

Written by Van Winkle, Robinson, Ordito, Chaos, Borland, Larkin, Mayo, Holoman and Johnson.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Vanilla Ice: The Well Rounded Interview. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
  2. ^ Strauss, Neil. THE POP LIFE; He's Back Back, Baby: A New (Improved?) Ice. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  3. ^ To The Extreme and Back: A clean-and-sober Vanilla Ice returns again with Hard to Swallow. Rolling Stone (March 12, 1998). Retrieved on 2008-03-23.
  4. ^ a b c d Vanilla Ice Lands New Deal. MTV News (May 21, 1998). Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  5. ^ a b Vanilla Ice Explains His "Skate Rock" Comeback. MTV News (October 27, 1998). Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  6. ^ a b c d Freydkin, Donna. "Vanilla Ice rolls the dice: The Iceman resurfaces with new rap-metal album", CNN Interactive, January 8, 1999. Retrieved on 2007-11-10. 
  7. ^ Wilonsky, Robert. "Korn holed: It's Hard to Swallow, but Vanilla Ice goes...metal?", Dallas Observer, October 22, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-11-10. 
  8. ^ Thompson, Stephen (May 6, 1998). Interview with Vanilla Ice. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  9. ^ Pareles, Jon (October 23, 1998). POP REVIEW; Ditching Rap for More Hardcore Metal. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
  10. ^ Hard to Swallow Review. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
  11. ^ Swallow this - Ice returns. Iowa State Daily (September 28, 1998). Retrieved on 2007-11-10.
  12. ^ Phipps, Keith; Rabin, Nathan; Thompson, Stephen (December 22, 1999). Least Essential Albums of the '90s. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
  13. ^ "The 50 Worst Albums Ever!", Q238, Q (magazine), May 2006. Retrieved on 2008-02-22. 
  14. ^ Vontz, Andrew. "Ice capades". Salon.com. 
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