Riding much hype and stellar reviews, Modern Vampires of the City is one of the year's most anticipated albums in alternative rock. Vampire Weekend were able to parlay that into strong sales in their debut week. Not surprisingly, then, the East Coast quartet are the big story on the Billboard Rock Charts, but it's also worth pointing out that Imagine Dragons finally lost their stranglehold on all of our singles charts. Check out my rundown of this week's Rock Charts to see where your favorite tunes and albums ranked.

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Photo courtesy Nasty Little Man.

As you may know, Metallica will be releasing their first 3D concert movie on September 27. Called Metallica Through the Never, the film is rather unconventional in that it features both a narrative -- about a band crew member, played by Dane DeHaan, on a special assignment -- and performance footage from a Metallica show. The first trailer has been revealed, and it definitely showcases both sides of the film's concept. So how do we think it'll look?

On Wednesday, the trailer hit the web, and I confess that I'm a little concerned. Admittedly, it really is intriguing to see how director Nimrod Antal meshes the live songs and the story, but this first trailer makes it look more like a big spectacle than anything else. With that said, to see and hear Metallica songs on the big screen in 3D and IMAX could be a treat. (I still say one of the best recent 3D movies was U2 3D.) But Through the Never's storyline, what little of it we can see, doesn't seem all that interesting. My fear is that, while watching this movie, I'm just going to keep impatiently waiting for them to cut back to the Metallica concert whenever the plot kicks in.

That's my take. What's yours?

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Photo courtesy BB Gun Press.

The Australian band Sick Puppies made big strides, commercially and critically, with their 2009 album Tri-Polar. Can they continue the trend with their new disc? We'll find out on July 16 when the trio release Connect.

As for what the album might sound like, frontman Shim Moore recently spoke with Loudwire, saying, "It's a louder record, but we went for a different sound in terms of the layering of the guitars. So there aren't as many guitars, but the ones that we do have we've turned up a lot more. So if that gives you an idea, it's a louder record but it's much more musical."

Truth be told, some of the best moments on Tri-Polar were the more musical and melodic. If Sick Puppies have figured out how to meld volume with their sharp melodic sense, they might really have something. In less than two months, we'll know.

Connect Track List:

• "Die to Save You"
• "There's No Going Back"
• "Walking Away"
• "Gunfight"
• "Poison"
• "Where Did the Time Go"
• "Telling Lies"
• "Connect"
• "Run"
• "The Trick the Devil Did"
• "Healing Now"
• "Under a Very Black Sky"

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Photo courtesy EMI.

Ever since Stone Temple Pilots decided to fire Scott Weiland, there's been curiosity about what the musicians would do without him. (Those wonders only increased after the vocalist made it clear that he may need to take legal action to keep them from using the band name without him.) Well, the drama deepened Saturday night when the Weiland-less STP played a show with Chester Bennington, the singer from Linkin Park.

The show in question was the KROQ Weenie Roast in Los Angeles, where the band unveiled a new song, "Out of Time." They've also recorded the track with Bennington, and once you hear it you'll notice that he sounds an awful like Weiland on it.

The STP members haven't yet announced any sort of album plans, but guitarist Dean DeLeo did tell KROQ, "We know Linkin Park will always be [Bennington's] priority, but we thought it would be cool to try something together. We managed to find the time to record a song and we're all really happy with the result."

If they try to release this song for sale on iTunes or elsewhere, though, how will they bill themselves? Do they get themselves in legal hot water if they keep calling themselves Stone Temple Pilots? It might be funny if they opted for Stone Temple Park or Linkin Pilots instead.

Update: It looks like Stone Temple Pilots are serious about having Bennington as their vocalist. They've even doing promotional photos with the guy.

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Photo: Chapman Baehler.