Stone Temple Pilots – Nº4

Mine came with some kind if scuff on it that caused distortion, they shipped out a replacement but honestly lately their QC is downhill. The pressing is ok I didn't mind it wasn't anything to write home about but I'm glad to have this on vinyl.

Great album, terrible pressing. No pops or noise but super quiet & really flat sound. VMP has had great quality pressings over the 5 or so years that I’ve been a member but this was a huge disappointment.

My pressing sounds quite good, but the center hole is too wide and it’s impossible to hear the record without a record weight.

The absolute best sounding version of sour girl and Atalanta. the rest is ehh… i like it and i can hear details i haven’t heard before especially on sex and violence but i mean the recording itself is just bad from the studio. really muddy and messy “soundstage”. sounds compressed but it’s always been a compressed sounding album. but it’s an album from 99 so what do you expect.

i think they did the best they could with what they had 7/10

I think this record sounds amazing and absolutely kicks on my system. I did crank the volume a bit higher than normal, but the instruments hit hard and to such a point my neighbor even got mad at me.

I was fortunate to get a flat and reasonably quiet copy. The record looks great but it sounds terrible. I don't blame VMP for that; I'm sure they did the best they could with it. The songs aren't very good. The vocals are sometimes true and sometimes heavily processed. Most of the time you can't hear anything the band is doing; it's all lost in a muddy roar of generalized noise. There is no soundstage to speak of and no separation of instruments. Garbage recording.

I may warm up to this musically after I live with it for a while and spin it 8 or 10 more times. I will give it a chance because I like Weiland's voice and I like the characteristic sound of this band. There is absolutely no chance that I will ever enjoy this sonically because it sounds bad.

Proof that black and white vinyl do not make any sound difference. That said, fairly flat pressing, and low noise floor with no issues on my end. It sounds compressed though, maybe just the heavy layering of the music which is one of vinyl's few weaknesses.

Cut at such a low volume ( had to increase the preamp input significantly ) which increases the surface noise and makes dust pop loudly ( will need to annoyingly be kept spotlessly clean to enjoy ) Sad to have such a great album that should shine on vinyl disappoint this way. Guess I’ll look for a Movie On Vinyl version to see if that’s any better or sadly just rely on the cd or streaming versions.

I don't like the black embossed jacket. It's impossible to read the track listing without holding it up to the light just right. I don't like the clear and black wax. It likely contributes to the noise level. The vinyl is noisy as hell but it doesn't matter because other than the quietest parts of Atlanta, the music drowns out the noise floor completely. Mine's got a TINY edge warp that's pretty aggressive which adds to the noise. I just got a replacement copy of Coltrane's Sun Ship delivered right along side this one, and the contrast between the two pressings is insane. That pressing is impossibly quiet, despite it also being warped, and this one is among the noisiest in my collection. The state of new vinyl these days is so fucking dismal, I'd be embarrassed to run a pressing plant.

It sounds fine to me. The highs are good with the cymbals sounding very clear. Vocals sound good. For those complaining about the bass, it might just be the recording. The bass tone sounds like a dub tone with virtually no mids or highs coming through. I think that's what makes the bass sound "muddy". But I think overall, the tonal balance of this record is pretty good, and I have no EQ controls on my amp.

Had to tune my sub a little bit to make the album pump a bit more but that's my personal choice. I will say it's a noticeably quiet pressing. It is an astoundingly good master though in my opinion. Everything sounds very clear and I'm not getting the muddiness that others are talking about.

This pressing doesn't have the punch but you can really pinpoint Robert DeLeo's writing and the bass lines are perfectly placed sound wise which makes me think it's a mix thing more than a mastering. The adjustments in Scott Weiland's meandering vocals on this album from whispers to strong belts to melodic shifts shine. There isn't a moment where you lose that sound.

Wonderful pressing but the lack of volume and the shortcomings in the VMP extras as opposed to what I've received from other essentials offerings sell it a bit short.