Mixing it up!

1. It is, in its way, a historical document
Since Shut Up and Dance contains all four of Abdul's No. 1 hits, she becomes the first recording artist ever to release a greatest-hits album after only one record.

2. It's cost-efficient for the consumer
Now that new releases cost $12 to $15 per CD, it's a shame to experiment with hard-earned dollars on music that's untested and unfamiliar. With Shut Up and Dance, you know these songs, but not like this. ''Some people will look at the cover and say, 'Oh, it's the same songs,''' remixer Cox says. ''But when you really get into the technical and aesthetic aspects of it, it's not.''

3. It documents the increasing mechanization of this century
A recording artist need not be in the studio — or even in the country — for the creation of a dance-mix album. For Shut Up and Dance, Abdul didn't record any new vocals; the one part that may seem new, her ''rap'' halfway through ''Cold Hearted,'' was first released last year on a 12-inch single. Abdul did come up with the album's title. ''She just liked it,'' Corfield says, adding, ''She was involved. She'd be down at the studio. But it's not like you have to record anything else.''

4. It's environmentally correct
Since recycling of paper and cans is now so fashionable, what better way to sharpen environmental awareness than an album of recycled music? Even the record's LP jacket and CD longboxes are printed on 100 percent recyclable paper. As Corfield explains, ''It's not just a rehashed version of the same stuff. Well, it is, to some extent, but it isn't.''

5. It's one of the most honest records ever made
Refreshingly, no one is claiming that Shut Up and Dance is a heartfelt artistic statement. As Abdul herself admitted to Rolling Stone, ''I'm no Aretha Franklin.'' Explains Corfield, ''It's an additional piece to sell, and it also continues the life of the (original) album to some extent.''

6. It upholds a grand but unappreciated tradition in pop music: the souvenir album
Pop encompasses such outright absurdities as Elvis Presley's Having Fun With Elvis on Stage, an entire album of pieced-together stage patter, and Yes' 90125 Live/The Solos, which collected individual instrument solos from songs recorded in concert. Shut Up and Dance makes a significant contribution to this legacy with its concluding track: a seven-minute medley of all the preceding numbers. ''I think the medley is really cool,'' Corfield says, tongue somewhat in cheek. ''Seven different songs and the way they blend into each other — it's brilliant.''

What with Shut Up and Dance and Abdul's recent Diet Coke and Reebok commercials, are her marketers worried about overexposing her? ''There was some concern,'' Jim Swindel, senior vice president and general manager of Virgin, says, but ''I'm not totally convinced that we've saturated Paula Abdul for the consumer.'' In other words, the phrase ''forever your girl'' could now be taking on a whole new meaning.