A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ov ...

('' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 2007, the best-selling remix album of all time is

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's '' Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix'' (1997).

History and concept

'' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'' (1971) by

is credited as the first remix album. It was released after the successes of " Everybody's Talkin'" and ''

The Point! ''The Point!'' is the sixth studio album by American songwriter and musician Harry Nilsson, released in late 1970. It was accompanied by an animated film adaptation directed by Fred Wolf, which aired in early February 1971 on the ABC-TV netw ...

'', when he decided that his older material had started to sound dated.

Neu! Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plan ...

's '' Neu! 2'' (1973) has also been described as "in effect the first remix album", as many tracks see the duo "speed up, slow down, cut, doctor, and mutilate the material, sometimes beyond recognition". In the 1980s, record companies would combine several kinds of electronic dance music, such as dance-pop, house,

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

, drum and bass,

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

hardstyle Hardstyle is an electronic dance genre that emerged in the late 1990s, with origins in the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Hardstyle mixes influences from techno, new beat and hardcore. Early hardstyle was typically written at 140 BPM (''bea ...

, and

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

into full-length albums, creating a relatively low-overhead addition to the catalogs and balance sheets.

Soft Cell Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit version of "Tainted Love" and their pla ...

's ''

Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing ''Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing'' is a 'mini' or 'remix' album by English synth-pop duo Soft Cell, released in the United Kingdom in June 1982, by Some Bizzare Records. In addition to remixes of the group's older material, it included a brand-new t ...

'' (1981) and

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

's ''

Love and Dancing ''Love and Dancing'' is a remix album by English synth-pop band The Human League, released in July 1982 by Virgin Records. Issued under the band name "The League Unlimited Orchestra" as a nod to Barry White's disco-era Love Unlimited Orchestra, ...

'' (1982) are credited for inventing the modern remix album. Since this time, this kind of release is not only seen as an easy cash-in for an artist and their label, but also as an opportunity to provide a second lease of life for a record. In the world of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

music, it is not uncommon for a whole album to be remixed in a dub style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican reggae, p.2 Jennifer Lopez's album ''

J to tha L–O! The Remixes ''J to tha L–O! The Remixes'' is a remix album by American singer Jennifer Lopez, released February 1, 2002 by Epic Records. It contains remixes from Lopez's first two studio albums: ''On the 6'' (1999) and '' J.Lo'' (2001). It features artists ...

'' is listed in the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' as the first remix album to debut at No.1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart.

List of best-selling remix albums

Notes

References

{{Lists of best-selling albums Album types

History and concept

List of best-selling remix albums

See also

Notes

References