The group, which broke up after the death of singer Freddie Mercury in 1991, launched a successful comeback tour of Europe this spring, with the ex-Free/Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers subbing as front man. The tour resulted in a new live CD, "Return of the Champions," followed by several live dates in the States. Sunday they play Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands.

While tickets for Queen's concert have gotten the royal treatment, their album has been greeted like a serf.

According to the promoters of the Meadowlands show, Metropolitan Talent, three quarters of Sunday's 16,000-plus tickets were snapped up in the first four days. The rest sold out soon after.

The band's live album, meanwhile, opened at a lousy No. 84 on the charts, with national sales of just 11,340 copies. In its second week, the disk fell to No. 200, adding fewer than 5,000 copies to its coffers.

Here's the likely reason: While fans may want to hear Queen — in any form — at a one-off concert, they want the real thing (read: the band's original lineup) when it comes to the longer-lasting ­medium of a CD.


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