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s' BY DAVID LL0N1NGER Assistant Sports Editor Stone Temple Pilots No. 4 ★★ out of ★★★★ Stone Temple Pilots have finally regrouped to put together their fourth stu dio album in seven years, but unfortunately, the album, appropriately titled No. 4, is such a deviation from STP’s usual style that it loses all sense of artistic qual ity and musical clarity. After the alternative, grunge-themed Core made it’s debut in 1992, the Pi lots made a name for themselves as a Seattle-voiced band with driving rhythms on Robert and Dean DeLeo’s blasting guitars, backed up by the explosive drum ming of Eric Kretz. Lead singer Scott Weiland became known for his trademark husky voice and unconventional singing style (like singing with a bullhorn and standing on his head) and became a good, solid frontman to identify with, a nor mal, everyday Joe unlike the superstar status of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder or Nir vana’s Kurt Cobain. The band’s second effort, Purple, was even better than Core, featuring sev eral probing tunes exploring the dark side of human emotion, such as the recog nized ballad “Big Empty” and the more subtle tune of love gone bad, “Pretty Pen ny.” However, the band’s third album, (Tiny Music... Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop), was a departure from the usual STP sound, with slower tunes, more in strumentation and a more soulful Weiland mixed in with quick-paced tunes like “Tumble in the Rough.” Although an admirable effort, the album was received with mixed reviews, leaving hardly a delible impression with STP’s fans. Following solo projects from Weiland (12 Bar Blues) and the other three mem bers uniting as Talk Show, STP has attempted to put the familiar alternative sound back into their music. But although the guitar and drum work is familiar and consistent in the album’s 11 sones. the overall nroiect is too consistent. The DeLeos manage to employ five chords in the album’s first three tracks, while Weiland’s voice sounds pockmarked and uneven, probably stemming from too many run-ins with heroin and the law. He seems desperately trying to keep up with the guitar bursts, always lagging one step behind and trying to compen sate by screaming indecipherable lyrics. Fans of No. 4’s first single, “Down,” will be quickly disappointed when they hear the same beat and tunes repeated in “Heav en and Hot Rods” and “Pruno.” Although No. 4 isn’t as good as STP’s other albums, it does have redeeming qualities. “Sour Girl,” an acoustic, falsetto performance nestled between two uptempo songs, breaks up the album nicely, much “Plush” and “Creep” did on Core. Also, the mournful tracks “Atlanta” and “Glide” feature interesting guitar work and a bass voice from Weiland, rising and settling with perfection on “At lanta’s” chorus: “She lives by the wall and waits by the door, she walks in the sun to me.” If the album were prepared properly through several takes ot songs, No. 4 might have reinvented rock n’ roll, as one critic suggested. However, the final product falls flat in its performances. For the hard-core STP fan, No. 4 is a keep er, but will collect dust as the band’s previous three albums receive more air time. J - ! -- ■ i-^' ' '■* i _