No. 4 (album)
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox album
| name = № 4
| type = studio
| artist = Stone Temple Pilots
| cover = Stone Temple Pilots Nº 4.jpg
| alt = A white star
| released = {{start date|1999|10|26}}
| recorded = 1998–1999
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = {{hlist|Grunge|alternative rock|hard rock|glam rock|pop rock|alternative metal}}
| length = 42:17
| label = Atlantic
| producer = Brendan O'Brien
| prev_title = Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop
| prev_year = 1996
| next_title = Shangri-La Dee Da
| next_year = 2001
| misc = {{Singles
| name = № 4
| type = studio
| single1 = Down
| single1date = April 5, 1999
| single2 = Sour Girl
| single2date = April 16, 2000
}}
}}
No. 4 (officially stylized as № 4) is the fourth studio album by the 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, and by the CRIA in August 2001.
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 No. 78 on the Billboard Hot 100, their only song to appear on that chart.{{Cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/stone-temple-pilots-mn0000626463/awards|title = Stone Temple Pilots | Awards|website = AllMusic}}
Musical style
No. 4, one of the last big-budget grunge{{cite web|url=http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/s/stonetemplepilots-no4.html|title=No. 4 - Stone Temple Pilots|publisher=Popmatter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000903201433/http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/s/stonetemplepilots-no4.html|access-date=February 14, 2021|archive-date=September 3, 2000}} and alternative rock albums of the 1990s,{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2061990/stp-no-4-turns-20/reviews/the-anniversary/|title=Stone Temple Pilots' 'No. 4' Turns 20|website=Stereogum|last=Leas|first=Ryan|date=October 25, 2019|quote=Heavy and bombastic but also slick and professional, it was a big-budget alt-rock album in the waning days of such things.|access-date=July 6, 2024}} combines the hard rock-oriented sound of Core and Purple, with the glam and pop rock influences of Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop.{{Cite web |title=Stone Temple Posers - About/Songs |url=https://stonetempleposers.com/about-songs |access-date=April 17, 2025 |website=Stone Temple Posers}} Italian authors Daniele Follero and Luca Masperone, described the album as "very heavy", as Stone Temple Pilots "veer clearly towards alternative metal," in their book La storia di Hard Rock & Heavy Metal.{{Cite book |page=1962|last=Follero |first=Daniele|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/La_storia_di_Hard_Rock_Heavy_Metal/L1wuEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |title=La storia di Hard Rock & Heavy Metal |last2=Masperone |first2=Luca |date=2021-05-14 |publisher=HOEPLI EDITORE |isbn=978-88-360-0409-6 |language=it}} Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic considered the album the band's "hardest effort" since Core, remarking that "even the ballads and neo-psychedelic pop have none of the swirling production that distinguished Tiny Music," adding that it "consolidates all [of STP's] strengths." Benjamin Ray of The Daily Vault opined that No. 4 is the band's "most garage rock disc to date," and that it alternates between "grunge rockers, pop songs and ballads."{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=2654|website=The Daily Vault|title=No. 4 - Stone Temple Pilots - Atlantic, 1999|last=Bay|first=Benjamin|date=October 27, 2004|access-date=November 30, 2024}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev2 = Christgau's Consumer Guide
| rev2score = {{rating-Christgau|neither}}{{Cite book |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |chapter=Stone Temple Pilots |chapter-url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=stone+temple+pilots |date=October 15, 2000 |publisher=Macmillan Publishing |isbn=9780312245603 |language=en |url=https://archive.org/details/christgausconsum00chri_0 }}
| rev3 = The Daily Vault
| rev4 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music
| rev4score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Stone Temple Pilots |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin (writer) |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}
| rev5 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev5score = C{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1999/10/29/no-4/|title=No. 4 review|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|last=Brunner|first=Rob|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118081441/https://ew.com/article/1999/10/29/no-4/|archive-date=November 18, 2018}}
| rev6 = NME
| rev6score = {{Rating|1|5}}{{cite web |url= https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-nme-1534-336151 |title=No 4 |date=September 12, 2005 |work=NME}}
| rev7 = PopMatters
| rev7score= 6.5/10{{cite web |url=http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/s/stonetemplepilots-no4.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000903201433/http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/s/stonetemplepilots-no4.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 3, 2000 |title=Stone Temple Pilots, No.4 (Atlantic) |work= Popmatters |last=Lichtenstein |first=Steve }}
| rev8 = Rolling Stone
| rev9 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev9score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite book |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |author-link=Rob Sheffield |chapter=Stone Temple Pilots |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/785 785] }}
| rev10 = Spin
}}
AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album four out of five stars, praising the opening tracks "Down" and "Heaven & Hot Rods".{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/no-4-mw0000252509|title=No. 4 Review|website=AllMusic|author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|access-date=May 7, 2023}} 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".{{cite magazine |author=Rob Brunner |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,271323,00.html |title=No. 4 Review |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=October 29, 1999 |access-date=June 26, 2017 |archive-date=September 3, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903110918/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,271323,00.html |url-status=dead }} 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".{{cite magazine|author=Lorraine Ali |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stonetemplepilots/albums/album/117382/review/5942924/no_4 |title=Stone Temple Pilots: No. 4 : Music Reviews |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=November 11, 1999 |access-date=August 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001211017/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/stonetemplepilots/albums/album/117382/review/5942924/no_4 |archive-date=October 1, 2007 |url-status=dead}} 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".{{cite magazine |first=M. Tye |last=Comer |date=November 1, 1999 |title=Must Hear the Essential Releases of the Week: Stone Temple Pilots – No. 4 (Atlantic) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajrfqGFW3-EC&q=%22no+way+out%22+%22stone+temple+pilots%22+-wikipedia+-billboard&pg=PA3 |magazine=CMJ New Music Monthly |page=3 |access-date=June 26, 2017 }} Critics noted similarities between "Atlanta" and "My Favorite Things" from the 1959 musical The Sound of Music.{{cite news |last1=Kot |first1=Greg |title=Stone Temple PilotsNo. 4 (Atlantic)Stone Temple Pilots... |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-10-24-9910240366-story.html |access-date=December 8, 2020 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=October 24, 1999}}{{cite news |last1=Shaw |first1=Andrew |title=Stone Temple Pilots rehash same old sounds with fourth album |url=http://www.dailynebraskan.com/stone-temple-pilots-rehash-same-old-sounds-with-fourth-album/article_80d77829-403b-5b04-8edc-f58cabd28d86.html |access-date=December 8, 2020 |work=Daily Nebraskan |date=November 12, 1999}}
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.{{cite web |last1=vanHorn |first1=Teri |title=Stone Temple Pilots LP Cover Bears Striking Resemblance To Another |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/517869/stone-temple-pilots-lp-cover-bears-striking-resemblance-to-another/ |publisher=MTV News |access-date=October 12, 2020 |language=en |date=September 30, 1999}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Nuttycombe |first1=Dave |title=Star-Making Machinery |url=https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/270881/star-making-machinery/ |publisher=Washington City Paper |access-date=October 12, 2020 |date=October 15, 1999}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Brace |first1=Eric |title=What's in a Name? Ask the Fabulettes |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/01/07/whats-in-a-name-ask-the-fabulettes/6f79fd5c-128c-4346-9401-0b171b15165b/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=October 12, 2020 |date=January 7, 2000}}
Track listing
{{track listing
|headline=No. 4 track listing
| all_lyrics = Scott Weiland
| title1 = Down
| writer1 = Scott Weiland, Robert DeLeo
| length1 = 3:50
| title2 = Heaven & Hot Rods
| writer2 = Weiland, Dean DeLeo
| length2 = 3:24
| title3 = Pruno
| writer3 = Weiland, R. DeLeo
| length3 = 3:14
| title4 = Church on Tuesday
| writer4 = Weiland, D. DeLeo
| length4 = 3:00
| title5 = Sour Girl
| writer5 = Weiland, D. DeLeo
| length5 = 4:18
| title6 = No Way Out
| writer6 = Weiland, R. DeLeo, D. DeLeo, Eric Kretz
| length6 = 4:19
| title7 = Sex & Violence
| writer7 = Weiland, R. DeLeo
| length7 = 2:52
| title8 = Glide
| writer8 = Weiland, R. DeLeo
| length8 = 4:59
| title9 = I Got You
| writer9 = Weiland, R. DeLeo
| length9 = 4:16
| title10 = MC5
| writer10 = Weiland, D. DeLeo
| length10 = 2:42
| title11 = Atlanta
| writer11 = Weiland, D. DeLeo
| length11 = 5:19
|total_length = 42:17
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Japanese edition bonus track
| title12 = Down (live)
| length12 = 3:58
}}
Personnel
Stone Temple Pilots
- Scott Weiland – vocals, organ on "Heaven & Hot Rods"
- Dean DeLeo – electric and acoustic guitars, lap steel and six-string bass on "I Got You"
- Robert DeLeo – bass, backing vocals, percussion on "Church on Tuesday" and "Sour Girl", guitar on "Sex and Violence", "Glide", and "I Got You", fuzz bass and zither on "Glide"
- 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"
{{div col}}
- David Campbell – string arrangement on "Atlanta"
- Suzie Katayama – contractor and cello
- Joel Derouin – concertmaster
- Evan Wilson – violin
- 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
{{div col end}}
Charts
"No. 4" and its singles made several appearances on the North American Billboard charts.
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| Chart (1999–2000)
!Peak |
|---|
| {{album chart|Australia|21|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|album=N° 4|rowheader=true|access-date=March 11, 2021}} |
| {{album chart|Germany4|41|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|album=N° 4|id=27339|rowheader=true|access-date=March 11, 2021}} |
| scope="row"| Canadian Albums (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/stone-temple-pilots/chart-history/cna/|title=Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Canadian Albums) |magazine=Billboard|access-date=February 16, 2021}}
| style="text-align:center;"|5 |
| {{album chart|New Zealand|33|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|album=N° 4|rowheader=true|access-date=March 11, 2021}} |
| {{album chart|Scotland|82|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|album=N° 4|date=19991106|rowheader=true|access-date=March 11, 2021}} |
| scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC){{cite web|url=http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_S.HTM|title=Chart Log UK: DJ S - The System Of Life|website=www.zobbel.de|access-date=March 10, 2021}}
|align"center"| 101 |
| {{album chart|UKRock|4|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|album=N° 4|date=19991106|rowheader=true|access-date=March 11, 2021}} |
| scope="row"| US Billboard 200{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/stone-temple-pilots/chart-history/tlp/|title=Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Billboard 200)|magazine=Billboard|access-date=February 16, 2021}}
| style="text-align:center;"|6 |
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| Chart (2024)
!Peak |
|---|
| scope="row"| Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ){{cite web |title=Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2024. 41. hét |url=https://slagerlistak.hu/album-top-40-slagerlista-fizikai-hanghordozok/2024/41 |publisher=MAHASZ |access-date=October 16, 2024}}
| 21 |
{{col-2}}
= Year-end charts =
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| Chart (2000)
!Position |
|---|
| scope="row"|Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan){{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040906184459/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2000_2.html|archivedate=September 6, 2004|url=http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2000_2.html|title=Canada's Top 200 Albums of 2000|website=Jam!|accessdate=March 29, 2022}}
|176 |
| scope="row"|US Billboard 200{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2000/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2000|magazine=Billboard|date=January 2, 2013|access-date=May 13, 2021}}
|161 |
{{col-end}}
=Singles=
=Certifications=
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Canada|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|title=No. 4|award=Platinum|refname="CRIAcert"|certyear=2001|relyear=1999}}
{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=Stone Temple Pilots|title=No. 4|award=Platinum|refname="UScert"}}
{{certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}
In popular culture
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.{{cite web
| url=http://archive.alternativenation.net/stone-temple-pilots-depeche-mode-referenced-true-detective/| title=Stone Temple Pilots And Depeche Mode Were Referenced On True Detective| access-date=June 22, 2017}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Stone Temple Pilots}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Albums produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer)