No. 4 (album)

No. 4 (officially stylized as № 4) is the fourth studio album released by American hard rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released on October 26, 1999, by Atlantic Records. The album was a return to the band's earlier hard rock roots, while also blending elements of heavy metal, psychedelic rock, and alternative rock. Despite the lack of promotion due to singer Scott Weiland's one-year jail sentence shortly before the album's release, No. 4 was certified Platinum by the RIAA on August 7, 2000,[2] and by the CRIA in August 2001.[3] The song "Down" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the Grammy Awards. The album also produced one of STP's biggest hits, "Sour Girl", which charted at #78 on the Billboard Hot 100, their only song to appear on that chart.[4] The CD was originally released as a digipak, then later changed to a standard jewel case.

№ 4
Studio album by
Stone Temple Pilots
ReleasedOctober 26, 1999
Recorded1998–1999
Genre
Length42:17
LabelAtlantic
ProducerBrendan O'Brien
Stone Temple Pilots chronology
Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop
(1996)		 № 4
(1999)		 Shangri-La Dee Da
(2001)
Singles from № 4
  1. "Down"
    Released: April 5, 1999
  2. "Sour Girl"
    Released: April 16, 2000
  3. "No Way Out"
    Released: May 2000

Musical style

No.4 displays a deliberate effort by the band to return to a more hard rock-oriented sound featured on its first two albums. Allmusic cited the album as STP's "hardest effort" since Core, remarking that "it's as if STP decided to compete directly with the new generation of alt-metal bands who prize aggression over hooks or riffs." Stephen Erlewine also wrote that No.4 "consolidates all [of STP's] strengths."[1]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Consumer Guide[5]
The Daily VaultB+[6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]
Entertainment WeeklyC[8]
NME2/10[9]
Popmatters6.5/10[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[12]
Spin5/10[13]

Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album four out of five stars, praising the opening tracks "Down" and "Heaven & Hot Rods".[1] Entertainment Weekly critic Rob Brunner graded it "C", calling the album "generic and phoned in" and mostly "unexciting and obvious". Brunner deemed the track "Down" as "dour", "No Way Out" as "dated", and "Atlanta" as "pretentious". Brunner further deemed the tracks "Sex & Violence" and "Pruno" as "hardly original" and resemblances to David Bowie but also as "well-crafted".[8] Rolling Stone critic Lorraine Ali rated it three out of five, calling the songs "strong pop-rock pieces but without the self-consciousness of previous efforts".[11] CMJ New Music Monthly critic M. Tye Comer called the album "powerful and cohesive", recommending readers to listen the tracks "Heaven & Hot Rods", "Church on Tuesday", "Sour Girl", and "No Way Out".[14] Critics noted similarities between "Atlanta" and "My Favorite Things" from the 1959 musical The Sound of Music.[15][16]

Album cover

The cover art for No.4 generated some brief controversy because it strongly resembled the cover of the debut EP from Washington, D.C.-based band Power Lloyd.[17] The Power Lloyd CD Election Day had been released in 1998, and the cover was a white five-point star on a black field under the band’s name; STP's No.4 also featured a white five-point star on a black field under the band’s name.[18] Power Lloyd co-founder Gene Diotalevi explained that after their band had given a song to MTV to be used on the soundtrack of Celebrity Deathmatch, someone at MTV with an advance copy of No.4 noticed that the covers were nearly identical, and alerted the band. Diotalevi stated that no one from STP's camp would return their calls or letters, until his band mailed a cease-and-desist letter to STP's record company. STP's legal team then "made an offer to settle that was unacceptable to us", according to Power Lloyd's lawyer Will Shill.[19]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Down"Scott Weiland, Robert DeLeo3:50
2."Heaven & Hot Rods"Weiland, Dean DeLeo3:24
3."Pruno"Weiland, R. DeLeo3:14
4."Church on Tuesday"Weiland, D. DeLeo3:00
5."Sour Girl"Weiland, D. DeLeo4:18
6."No Way Out"Weiland, R. DeLeo, D. DeLeo, Eric Kretz4:20
7."Sex & Violence"Weiland, R. DeLeo2:52
8."Glide"Weiland, R. DeLeo4:59
9."I Got You"Weiland, R. DeLeo4:16
10."MC5"Weiland, D. DeLeo2:42
11."Atlanta"Weiland, D. DeLeo5:19
Total length:42:17
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Down (live)"3:58

Personnel

Stone Temple Pilots

  • Scott Weiland – vocals, organ on "Heaven & Hot Rods"
  • Dean DeLeo – guitars, acoustic guitar on "I Got You", lapsteel on "I Got You", six-string bass on "I Got You"
  • Robert DeLeo – bass, percussion on "Church on Tuesday" and "Sour Girl", guitars on "Sex & Violence" and "Glide", fuzz bass on "Glide", zither on "Glide", electric guitars on "I Got You"
  • Eric Kretz – drums, percussion on "No Way Out" and "Atlanta"

Additional personnel

  • Brendan O'Brien – producer, mixing, backing vocals on "Pruno" and "I Got You", keyboards on "Church on Tuesday", percussion on "Church on Tuesday", "Sour Girl", "Sex & Violence" and "I Got You", backing vocals on "Sour Girl", piano on "Glide" and "I Got You"
  • David Campbell – string arrangement on "Atlanta"
  • Suzie Katayama – contractor and cello
  • Joel Derouin – concertmaster
  • Evan Wilson – viola
  • Larry Corbett – cello
  • Barrett Martin – bass marimba on "Atlanta"
  • Nick DiDia – recording engineer
  • Russ Fowler – recording engineer
  • Dave Reed – engineer
  • Allen Sides – engineer
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Andrew Garver – digital editing
  • Erin Haley – production coordinator
  • Cheryl Mondello – production coordinator
  • Richard Bates – art direction
  • Andrea Brooks – art direction
  • Chapman Baehler – photography
  • Steve Stewart – management

Charts

No. 4 and its singles made several appearances on the North American Billboard charts.

Album
Year Chart Position
1999 U.S. Billboard 200 6
Canadian RPM Albums Chart 3
Top Internet Albums 1
Top Internet Albums 18

Singles
Year Single Mainstream Rock Tracks[20] Modern Rock Tracks[21] Adult Top 40[22] Hot 100 Top 40 Mainstream
1999 "Down" 5 9 107
2000 "Heaven & Hot Rods" 17 30
"No Way Out" 17 24
"Sour Girl" 4 3 37 78[23] 39

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[24] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[25] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

The album and its entire tracklisting is displayed in S1E7 of HBO's True Detective, during a scene in which Matthew Mcconaughey and Woody Harrelson's characters converse in a diner.[26]

References
  1. No. 4 at AllMusic
  2. "Gold and Platinum Database Search". Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  3. "Gold & Platinum Certification – August 2001". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 2010-11-22. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  4. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/stone-temple-pilots-mn0000626463/awards
  5. Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Stone Temple Pilots". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
  6. Ray, Benjamin (2004). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews : No. 4". dailyvault.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  7. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Stone Temple Pilots". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  8. Rob Brunner (October 29, 1999). "No. 4 Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  9. "No 4". NME. 12 September 2005. Archived from the original on 3 September 2000.
  10. Lichtenstein, Steve. "Stone Temple Pilots, No.4 (Atlantic)". Popmatters. Archived from the original on 2000-09-03.
  11. Lorraine Ali (1999-11-11). "Stone Temple Pilots: No. 4 : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-01. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
  12. Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Stone Temple Pilots". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 785. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  13. Clover, Joshua (December 1999). "No. 4 Review". Spin. SPIN Media LLC.
  14. Comer, M. Tye (November 1, 1999). "Must Hear the Essential Releases of the Week: Stone Temple Pilots – No. 4 (Atlantic)". CMJ New Music Monthly. p. 3. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  15. Kot, Greg (October 24, 1999). "Stone Temple PilotsNo. 4 (Atlantic)Stone Temple Pilots..." Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  16. Shaw, Andrew (November 12, 1999). "Stone Temple Pilots rehash same old sounds with fourth album". Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  17. vanHorn, Teri (30 September 1999). "Stone Temple Pilots LP Cover Bears Striking Resemblance To Another". MTV News. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  18. Nuttycombe, Dave (15 October 1999). "Star-Making Machinery". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  19. Brace, Eric (7 January 2000). "What's in a Name? Ask the Fabulettes". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  20. "Stone Temple Pilots – Mainstream Rock Songs chart history". Billboard. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  21. "Stone Temple Pilots – Alternative Songs chart history". Billboard. Retrieved June 25, 2017. "Alternative Songs" was formerly "Modern Rock Tracks".
  22. "Stone Temple Pilots – Adult Pop Songs chart history". Billboard. Retrieved June 25, 2017. "Adult Pop Songs" was formerly "Adult Top 40".
  23. "Stone Temple Pilots – The Hot 100 chart history". Billboard. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  24. "Canadian album certifications – Stone Temple Pilots – No. 4". Music Canada.
  25. "American album certifications – Stone Temple Pilots – No. 4". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  26. "Stone Temple Pilots And Depeche Mode Were Referenced On True Detective". Retrieved 2017-06-22.
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