Stone Temple Pilots Album: “No. 4”

No. 4 doesn't contain as many hits as their first three albums. It isn't as heavy as "Core," it isn't as catchy as "Purple," it isn't as ambitious as "Tiny Music...". So, how is it their best?

At first, it isn't. I'm sure you've read it takes time to like the album, and it's true. But after a while, you start to like it...then love it...then think of it as one of your best CDs you own.

This album is magical, mysterious , dark, isolated, angry, offhand, powerful, regretful, psychedelic and hypnotising. All in all, it has to be the best album of 1999. VERY, VEEERY underrated.

It's hard to pick a best song. "Down" and "Sour Girl" were both huge top ten hits, and they couldn't be more different sounding. "Down" is among the heaviest songs STP ever did (with absolutely AMAZING vocals), and "Sour Girl" is a catchy 60s-esque pop tune with a cool, weird video. But the singles aren't the stars on this album...

"Atlanta" has got to be the most enchanting, amazzing song I have ever heard. The bridge (that shows Scott's ever increasng vocal range) will get you HIGH. Well, not really, but it's the closest thing to it naturally...

Every song works great together here, like it's a concept album. "Pruno" could be a hit single if it were released..."Church On Tuesday" is a catchy little pop song that's instantly enjoyable..."No Way Out" is an intense, angry, mournful song about hatred for heroin and what it was doing to Scott at the time..."Sex and Violence" is a heavy, catchy rocker that is likely the next single..."Glide" is a great song after a while, adding more pschidelia to the album..."I Got You" was my favorite the first time I listened to this CD, it's a Countryish pop rocker with a great acoustic solo..."MC5" is a short, heavy rock song with a kick *ss drum line.

Buy this album. If at first you don't like it...don't sell it to a CD shop. Keep it. It will get better. I know for a fact.

In 1996 when STP released Tiny Music... I bought it and it was my favorite album by them. So after 3 years when I heard that No.4 was going to be released I naturally set very high standards for it. I must say it blew me away. I didn't think they had the time to actually write and record a full album with Scott's problems but they once again shocked everyone and delivered the best album of their career. If you're expecting a polished studio album this is not the one. No.4 is plain and simply a raw rock album from the beginning of Down to the end of Atlanta the album blends straight forward guitar rock with trippy delicate ballads such as Sour Girl and Atlanta the latter features Scott sounding almost identical to Jim Morrison on a song that could have been an outtake from Strange Days by the Doors. The definate strong point of the album are the rockers such as Down, No Way Out, Sex & Violence, MC5, Heaven & Hot Rods, and Pruno. There is not a bad song on the entire cd. Another great song is Church on Tuesday which doesn't quite qualify as a ballad or a rocker it's somewhere in between. This album is a classic which I reccomend to anyone who likes good music and for first time listeners pick up the other 3 albums because they are amazing as well. STP=Great Music

Stone Temple Pilots simply dominated MTV and radio throughout the first half of the 90s. Although their debut album "Core" (1992) borrowed some ideas from the Seattle scene, the band eventually found its own sound with "Purple," (1994) and "Tiny Music" (1996). They were one of rocks most popular, promising bands.

But all was not well within the band. Although STP never broke up, they took an extended break during the second half of the 90s. Dean and Robert DeLeo (Guitar, Bass, receptively) and drummer Eric Kretz formed the band Talk Show with singer David Coutts and released a self-titled album in 1997. Scott Weiland released his eclectic solo album the following year. Despite the quality of these outings, both sold poorly.

In 1999, when STP released their first album in three years, much had changed. The glory days of Grunge when "Core" and "Purple" were released were long since gone. Even the days of post-grunge when "Tiny Music" enjoyed its success were over. A new breed of bands and styles dominated MTV and rock radio. In the late 90s, early '00s, Nu-Metal was all the rage. Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains were all gone. Bands like Limp Bizkit, Korn, and Kid Rock had dethroned bands like Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots.

How well would Stone Temple Pilots fare in 1999, in this sea of Nu-Metal drudgery? Most ivory tower music snobs predicted in '92/93, that STP's popularity would burn out as soon as the grunge era came to pass. But STP would soon prove all their detractors wrong by releasing their superb, amply titled fourth album "No4."

For me, "No4" is actually a mix of STP's previous three albums. It has the heaviness of "Core," and "Purple" and the retro-glam psychedelic tripiness of "Tiny Music." In the heavy openers "Down," and "Heaven & Hot Rods" we hear the Weiland from the days of yore, with his signature baritone growl that had been noticeably absent from "Tiny Music." These heavy openers are like STP telling the new younger Nu-Metal bands that they are back and hungry. While these songs don't really sound as though they could have been on "Core," they sound like a natural progression from that album. Some of the other songs on "No4," however, sound more in the vein of "Tiny Music," like the 60s sounding "Church on Tuesday" and "I Got You," and the radio friendly "Sour Girl." The paranoid trippy "No Way Out" sounds like a hybrid, mixing the heaviness of "Core" with the reto-glam aesthetics of "Tiny Music."

"No4" has a nice flow that never gets boring or looses momentum. This album contains some of the bands' finest songs, like the heavy "Down," "Heaven & Hot Rods, "No Way Out" as well as the lush pop-savvy "Sour Girl." And while some songs are better than others, the entire disc is quite enjoyable. There isn't any filler. STP has always been an eclectic band, and "No4" shows STP mixing different tones and styles at their best. Dean DeLeo's riffs and solos are as catchy and memorable as always throughout the disc.

As some have pointed out, the production is a bit murky. STP's three previous albums, as well as their swan song "Shangri-LA DEE DA (2001)" all have a very crisp, polished sound. By comparison, "No4" sounds rawer, almost like a demo. By I don't look at that as a negative. It actually gives the album a certain charm. It almost sounds as though it were a modern sounding album that was recorded in the 60s or 70s.

STP proved that they were back with "No4." If you're mostly a fan of the early albums and never gave the later day stuff a chance, I highly recommend "No4." This is easily one of the best albums from the second half of the 1990s.

In an age when rock/rap and corporate rock machines dominate the radio waves, it is easy to accept the notion that truly great, emotive rock music is all but gone away. But just as one is about to turn out the light on the future of rock music, the Stone Temple Pilots release No. 4, proving Neil Young's epic phrase, "Rock and Roll will never die." Each song on No. 4 is a rock and roll gem in and of itself, and each one defines the Stone Temple Pilots as a band who can draw (not copy as some critics may have you believe) from the influences of past masters such as David Bowie and Led Zepplin. However, this is not merely derivative rock. STP manages to craft each influence into something that winds up sounding completely and wholly original. Meanwhile, Scott Weiland further displays his talent in writing powerful lyrics. He is able to make the listener both dig for true meaning while at the same slapping them in the face with raw, literal emotion. This album contains many high points and relatively few low ones for a band that has not received the attention it definitely deserves. Elitism is a sick and deadly disease. It's too bad contemporary rock critics have to be infected with it. Ignorance is the sister disease of elitism. It is tragedy that so many music fans have been plagued by it. Both diseases cause one to miss out on experiencing the truly wonderful.

Negative reviews are obviously from an MTV generation thriving off puff ball music. With complete sincerity, those finding this album less than appealing are looking for their music spoon fed to them. No pop appeal here, no corporate glam, just solid rock n' roll from STP. The No. 4 album ages beautiful with every listen.