I recall hearing Down for the first time. The song's initial impression on me was kind of a blend of AIC and the Melvins. I was really happy that STP got heavy again. (At the time I was 16 and wanted Core 2.0....) An old buddy who was huge into metal was actually the first person I knew to own the album. His tastes were more Pantera, Iron Maiden, and Megadeth; so I was a bit surprised when h bought it. A few days later he said to me, "wanna borrow this? It's got a few heavy songs but way too much light shit on it." I checked it out and fell in love with it instantly. The heavier songs gave me my fix, (although I could still probably take or leave No Way Out) but it was the songs that weren't balls to the wall that impressed me most. Glide, I Got You, Atlanta, Sour Girl, all such fantastically thought out. It was the kind of music that touches the soul.
I also remember it being a really confusing time in the fall of 1999 because there were No.4 posters and stickers at the local record store but Scott wasn't a free man at the time, and there was no promotion of the album besides the said posters and stickers. It was like the album dropped and just fell flat on its face because there was no way to support it.
Once the spring time came around and that Sour Girl video came out it was like someone took a defibrillator to the album. It was such a delayed buzz about it. Just very strange. Once it took off though, it did with a great momentum that you could really feel as a fan. No the album wasn't as commercially big as Purple or Core, but just seeing all the tv appearances and all the tour dates....As a fan I could tell at the time that those guys were on track for real. They were really trying hard. They also looked like they really genuinely were having fun!!! I only wish it could have stayed that way for the rest of their careers. Perhaps that's why so many of us see the No. 4 era as a golden era for this band.
