Stone Temple Pilots fans have good reason to be scratching their heads these days.

The L.A.-based band is poised to release their fourth album, appropriately titled No. 4, on Oct. 26. Where will STP frontman Scott Weiland be? Holed up in an L.A. jail for violating parole.

Not exactly an ideal situation for a band promoting a new disc. It's just another in a long line of setbacks STP has suffered in the wake of the singer's ongoing problems with heroin addiction.

Weiland, 31, has been in prison since Aug. 13 following a heroin overdose in July. In early September, he was sentenced to nearly a year behind bars for violating his probation a third time following a previous drug charge.

STP's three other members -- guitarist Dean DeLeo, his bassist brother Robert and drummer Eric Kretz -- were in town this week to talk about their new album, and they were candid about the condition of their band and their troubled singer.

"A lot of people have been wondering what's going on with this band," Robert DeLeo said. "We've been perfectly capable of making more records, touring more, making more money, whatever. But the three of us have always stuck by our guns and said, 'Look, we're dealing with two different kinds of people here.' "

The band members said that despite their determination to release No. 4 under difficult circumstances, they won't let STP jeopardize Weiland's well-being, even if that means staying off the road.

Dean DeLeo said they expect that Weiland will be released from jail in February or March, but the band will only tour "if he's okay."

And if he's not okay?

"We've got to walk away from it," Dean said. "Because if we don't, we start wearing that hat with the big 'E' on it: 'Enabler.' "

Explained Robert: "When it comes time for him to jump into this band, it almost makes us feel like we're enabling him to go into that area where it's acceptable to be like that."

That is, relapsing into heroin abuse.

The trio said they work well creatively with Weiland and couldn't continue as STP without him. They've also become adept at dealing with his destructive fascination with rock stardom.

But, as Robert said, "It gets to the point where you have to say, 'Do you want a dead rock star or a living rock star?' "