Aerial Pandemonium Ballet is a 1971 album by Harry Nilsson

Harry Nilsson

Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...

, and one of the first-ever remix album

Remix album

A remix album is an album consisting mostly of remixes or re-recorded versions of a music artists' earlier released material.One of the earliest remix albums was 1971's Aerial Pandemonium Ballet by Harry Nilsson, which was released by Nilsson after the successes of Everybody's Talkin and The Point!...

s, years before they became commonplace.

With the successes of Everybody's Talkin'

Everybody's Talkin'

"Everybody's Talkin" is a folk rock song released by Fred Neil in 1966 that became a global success for Harry Nilsson in 1969, reaching #2 and #6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and Pop Singles chart respectively and winning a Grammy after it was featured on the soundtrack for the film...

and The Point!

The Point!

- Musical play :In 1975, Esquire Jauchem, Artistic Director of the Boston Repertory Theater, approached Harry Nilsson about creating a stage musical of "The Point!" Although Nilsson said he had been asked many times and had always turned down the request, this time he granted his permission...

creating demand for Nilsson recordings, a reissue of his first two RCA Victor albums (Pandemonium Shadow Show

Pandemonium Shadow Show

Pandemonium Shadow Show is the second album by Harry Nilsson. It was the first product of his three-year, $50,000 recording contract with RCA Records, and was recorded in their Hollywood studio...

and Aerial Ballet

Aerial Ballet

Aerial Ballet is the third album by Harry Nilsson released in 1968.Aerial Ballet was Nilsson's second album for RCA Victor, and was titled after the highwire circus act of his grandparents. It consists almost entirely of songs written by him, including "One", which later became a Number Five hit...

), then out of print, was considered. Nilsson thought that his early albums already sounded a bit dated by 1971. So he went back into the studio with the master tapes, remixed, tweaked, and re-recorded vocals, and came up with a new consolidation which he titled Aerial Pandemonium Ballet.

It is a matter of intense debate among Nilsson fans whether this was a good idea. Reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine, on allmusic.com, describes the result as "just old tunes presented in slightly new, slightly off-putting ways."

Track listing

All music and lyrics by Harry Nilsson

Harry Nilsson

Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...

 except where noted

1. Introduction – :09
2. "1941" – 2:37 (slowed down track & remixed)
3. "Daddy's Song" – 2:07 (new vocals, guitar/piano/out of sync)
4. "Mr. Richland's Favorite Song" – 2:07 (new bg vocals & remixed)
5. "Good Old Desk" – 2:30 (slowed down track & remixed)
6. "Everybody's Talkin'" – 2:42 (dumped second voice & remixed)
7. "Bath" – 1:50 (re-EQ'd original tracks)
8. "River Deep – Mountain High" (Phil Spector
   Phil Spector
   Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
   
   , Jeff Barry
   Jeff Barry
   Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...
   
   , Ellie Greenwich
   Ellie Greenwich
   Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Be My Baby", "Christmas ", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Leader of the Pack", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "River Deep, Mountain High", among many others...
   
    – 3:57 (new vocals & remixed)
9. "Sleep Late, My Lady Friend" – 2:37 (remixed)
10. "Don't Leave Me" – 2:12 (remixed)
11. "Without Her" – 2:08 (new vocals & remixed)
12. "Together" – 1:37 (new vocals, edited out bridge & remixed)
13. "One" – 2:18 (remixed)
14. Closing – :20