No. 4 (album)

No. 4 (officially stylized as № 4) is the fourth studio album by American 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,[4] and by the CRIA in August 2001.[5] 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.[6] The CD was originally released as a digipak, then later changed to a standard jewel case.

№ 4
A white star
Studio album by
Stone Temple Pilots
ReleasedOctober 26, 1999 (1999-10-26)
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

Musical style

No. 4 displays the band returning to the more hard rock-oriented sound of their first two albums. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of 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." Erlewine also commented that No. 4 "consolidates all [of STP's] strengths."[3]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(neither)[7]
The Daily VaultB+[8]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
Entertainment WeeklyC[10]
NME[11]
PopMatters6.5/10[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[14]
Spin5/10[15]

AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album four out of five stars, praising the opening tracks "Down" and "Heaven & Hot Rods".[3] 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 having resemblances to David Bowie but also as "well-crafted".[16] 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".[13] 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".[17] Critics noted similarities between "Atlanta" and "My Favorite Things" from the 1959 musical The Sound of Music.[18][19]

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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

Track listing
No. 4 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

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.

Singles
Year Single Mainstream Rock Tracks[33] Modern Rock Tracks[34] Adult Top 40[35] Hot 100
1999 "Down" 5 9 107
2000 "Heaven & Hot Rods" 17 30
"No Way Out" 17 24
"Sour Girl" 4 3 37 78[36]

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[5] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[4] 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.[37]

References
  1. "No. 4 - Stone Temple Pilots". Popmatter. Archived from the original on September 3, 2000. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  2. "No. 4 - Stone Temple Pilots". The Daily Vault. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  3. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "No. 4". AllMusic. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  4. "American album certifications – Stone Temple Pilots – No. 4". Recording Industry Association of America.
  5. "Canadian album certifications – Stone Temple Pilots – No. 4". Music Canada.
  6. "Stone Temple Pilots | Awards". AllMusic.
  7. Christgau, Robert (October 15, 2000). "Stone Temple Pilots". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
  8. Ray, Benjamin (2004). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews : No. 4". dailyvault.com. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  9. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Stone Temple Pilots". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  10. Brunner, Rob. "No. 4 review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018.
  11. "No 4". NME. September 12, 2005.
  12. Lichtenstein, Steve. "Stone Temple Pilots, No.4 (Atlantic)". Popmatters. Archived from the original on September 3, 2000.
  13. Lorraine Ali (November 11, 1999). "Stone Temple Pilots: No. 4 : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  14. Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Stone Temple Pilots". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 785. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  15. Clover, Joshua (December 1999). "No. 4 Review". Spin. SPIN Media LLC.
  16. Rob Brunner (October 29, 1999). "No. 4 Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  17. 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.
  18. Kot, Greg (October 24, 1999). "Stone Temple PilotsNo. 4 (Atlantic)Stone Temple Pilots..." Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  19. Shaw, Andrew (November 12, 1999). "Stone Temple Pilots rehash same old sounds with fourth album". Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  20. vanHorn, Teri (September 30, 1999). "Stone Temple Pilots LP Cover Bears Striking Resemblance To Another". MTV News. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  21. Nuttycombe, Dave (October 15, 1999). "Star-Making Machinery". Washington City Paper. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  22. Brace, Eric (January 7, 2000). "What's in a Name? Ask the Fabulettes". Washington Post. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  23. "Australiancharts.com – Stone Temple Pilots – N° 4". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  24. "Offiziellecharts.de – Stone Temple Pilots – N° 4" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  25. "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  26. "Charts.nz – Stone Temple Pilots – N° 4". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  27. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  28. "Chart Log UK: DJ S - The System Of Life". www.zobbel.de. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  29. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  30. "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  31. "Canada's Top 200 Albums of 2000". Jam!. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  32. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2000". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  33. "Stone Temple Pilots – Mainstream Rock Songs chart history". Billboard. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  34. "Stone Temple Pilots – Alternative Songs chart history". Billboard. Retrieved June 25, 2017. "Alternative Songs" was formerly "Modern Rock Tracks".
  35. "Stone Temple Pilots – Adult Pop Songs chart history". Billboard. Retrieved June 25, 2017. "Adult Pop Songs" was formerly "Adult Top 40".
  36. "Stone Temple Pilots – The Hot 100 chart history". Billboard. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  37. "Stone Temple Pilots And Depeche Mode Were Referenced On True Detective". Retrieved June 22, 2017.
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