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Next week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Stone Temple Pilots will return to tally after a long absence as its new self-titled set will be the chart's highest debut. Industry prognosticators think the album -- the band's first studio release since 2001 -- could sell in the neighborhood of 60,000 to 70,000 copies by week's end on May 30. That might be enough to enable a No. 1 debut, depending on how the current week's topper, "Glee - The Music Volume 3: Showstoppers," declines in its second week. "Showstoppers" arrived at No. 1 with 136,000 this past week.
If "Stone Temple Pilots" arrives in the top 10, it will mark the sixth top 10 for the band -- its entire output of studio albums. Only its greatest hits package "Thank You" missed the top 10 (No. 26 in 2003).
The second-highest debut might be the "Sex and the City 2" soundtrack, which may sell around 30,000 copies. With the film bowing in theaters this week, that number could grow, depending on how the movie's music resonates with consumers.
Other sets we expect to debut high on the Billboard 200 next week include Marc Anthony's "Iconos" and Widespread Panic's "Dirty Side Down."
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