A Best 2
Greatest hits album by
Ayumi Hamasaki
Released28 February 2007 (2007-02-28)
Recorded2001–2007 (Black)
2001–2005 (White)
Genre
Length77:27 (Black)
74:56 (White)
LabelAvex Trax
ProducerMax Matsuura
A Best 2: Black
A Best 2: White
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
Secret
(2006)		 A Best 2
(2007)		 Guilty
(2008)
Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2006 A
(2006)
Best of Countdown live 2006–2007 A
(2007)
Ayumi Hamasaki Asia Tour 2007: Tour of Secret
(2008)

A Best 2 (stylized as BEST 2) is a series of greatest hits albums by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki, which were released simultaneously on 28 February 2007 by Avex Trax. The two-volume release is a direct successor to A Best (2001) and features material from a four-year period of her career. A Best 2 is split between contrasting "dark" and "light" themes, with the two volumes Black and White compiling songs of either nature, respectively.

A Best 2 held the top two spots of the Oricon albums chart in its debuting week, with A Best 2: White at number one. This made Hamasaki the first female artist since Keiko Fuji to occupy both positions in 37 years. Both A Best 2 volumes were certified 3× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.[1]

A Best 2: Black

A Best 2: Black includes a previously unreleased track, "Part of Me" (featured in a new Panasonic CM) and its accompanying music video. The song was certified gold for 100,000 legal downloads.[2]

Track listing

No.TitleOriginal AlbumLength
1."Dearest"I am... 
2."Carols"My Story 
3."No Way to Say"Memorial Address 
4."Hanabi (Fireworks)"Rainbow 
5."Walking Proud"My Story 
6."Free & Easy"Rainbow 
7."Endless Sorrow"I am... 
8."Because of You"Memorial Address 
9."About You"My Story 
10."Game"My Story 
11."Is This Love?"(Miss)understood 
12."Hanabi: Episode II (Fireworks: Episode II)"Memorial Address 
13."Never Ever"I am... 
14."Heaven"(Miss)understood 
15."Part of Me"previously unreleased 
16."Memorial Address: Take 2 version" (Hidden Track)Memorial Address 

DVD track listing

1st DVD – Promotional Videos

  1. "Dearest"
  2. "Carols"
  3. "No Way to Say"
  4. "Walking Proud"
  5. "Free & Easy"
  6. "Endless Sorrow"
  7. "Because of You"
  8. "About You"
  9. "Game"
  10. "Is This Love?"
  11. "Hanabi: Episode II"
  12. "Never Ever" [promotional clip]
  13. "Heaven"
  14. "Part of Me"
  15. "H" [TV-CM]

2nd DVD – Best of CountDown Live 2006–2007

  1. Best of CountDown Live 2006–2007 (Behind the Scenes) (90 minutes)

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release Chart Peak Position First Week Sales Sales Total Chart Run
28 February 2007 Oricon Daily Albums Chart 1
Oricon Weekly Albums Chart 2 470,057 970,000 52
Oricon Monthly Albums Chart 3
Oricon Yearly Albums Chart 7
  • Total Sales : 970,000 (Japan)

A Best 2: White

On January 15, 2007, A Best 2 was confirmed on Hamasaki's official website. On January 16, the track listing for both CDs were officially released. The album covers and DVD track listings were released on February 6.

Track listing

DVD track listing

1st DVD – Promotional Videos

  1. "Evolution"
  2. "Grateful Days"
  3. "Humming 7/4"
  4. "Unite!" [promotional clip]
  5. "Real me"
  6. "My Name's Women"
  7. "Ourselves"
  8. "Inspire"
  9. "Step you"
  10. "Fairyland"
  11. "Voyage"
  12. "Moments"
  13. "H" [TV-CM]

2nd DVD – Best of CountDown Live 2006–2007

  1. "Not Yet"
  2. "Ourselves"
  3. "Fly High"
  4. "Beautiful Fighters"
  5. "Never Ever"
  6. "A Song for" ××
  7. "No Way to Say"
  8. "Free & Easy"
  9. "Evolution"
  10. "Flower Garden"
  11. "Until That Day..."
  12. "Audience"
  13. "Boys & Girls"

-encore-

  1. "Trauma"
  2. "Independent"
  3. "Humming 7/4"
  4. "Blue Bird"

Charts

A Best 2: White – Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release Chart Peak Position First Week Sales Sales Total Chart Run
28 February 2007 Oricon Daily Albums Chart 1
Oricon Weekly Albums Chart 1 475,284 990,000 52
Oricon Monthly Albums Chart 2
Oricon Yearly Albums Chart 5
  • Total Sales : 990,000 (Japan)

Release history

Region Date Format Catalogue Number
Japan 28 February 2007 CD+2DVD AVCD-23263 (Black)
AVCD-23265 (White)
CD AVCD-23264 (Black)
AVCD-23266 (White)
Taiwan 9 March 2007
Hong Kong 13 March 2007
China 27 October 2007 CD+2DVD
  • Initial pressing
CD
  • Initial pressing
Malaysia 14 March 2007
Singapore 14 March 2007
Indonesia 14 March 2007
South Korea 15 March 2007

Sales and accomplishments

Japan

After the first week sales of A Best 2: Black and White were announced, Hamasaki had already garnered sales of over 1 million copies. With the release of A Best 2, Hamasaki also broke many records.

As of August 2007, A Best 2 has charted in the top 5 of 2007 Oricon Half-Yearly Album 2007 Chart. A Best: White charted as #3 and Black charted as #4; the nearest competitor was Kobukuro with "All Singles Best" with sales around 640,000 copies. However, factoring in consistent sales of Kobukuro's "All Singles Best", it is predicted that A Best 2 will fall down to #4 and #5, respectively. According to Avex, A Best 2 had sold over 2 million copies as of March 2007.[3]

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release Chart Peak Position Oricon Sales Total Avex Sales Total Chart Run
28 February 2007 Oricon Daily Albums Chart 1 (Black & White) 170,000 200,000 1 day
Oricon Weekly Albums Chart 1 (White)
2 (Black)		 945,341 1,000,000 1 week
Oricon Monthly Albums Chart 2 (White)
3 (Black)		 646,479 (White), 632,999 (Black) 1,200,000 4 weeks
Oricon Yearly Albums Chart 4 (White)
5 (Black)		 1,960,000 (as of 2008) 2,000,000 52 weeks
  • Total sales: 1,960,000 (Japan)
  • Total sales: 2,000,000 (Avex)
Album Date Title Peak position Chart run Sales
Black 7 March 2001 "Never Ever" 1 12 weeks 850,000
16 May 2001 "Endless Sorrow" 1 11 weeks 860,000
27 September 2001 "Dearest" 1 16 weeks 825,000
24 April 2002 "Free & Easy" 1 9 weeks 555,000
11 June 2003 "No Way to Say" 1 12 weeks 425,000
29 November 2004 "Carols" 1 14 weeks 375,000
14 November 2005 "Heaven" 1 14 weeks 370,000
White 31 January 2001 "Evolution" 1 17 weeks 1,145,000
11 July 2001 "Unite!" 1 10 weeks 663,000
12 December 2001 "A Song Is Born" 1 10 weeks 510,000
26 November 2002 "Voyage" 1 28 weeks 760,000
31 March 2004 "Moments" 1 21 weeks 370,000
3 August 2005 "Fairyland c/w Alterna" 1 13 weeks 370,000
Black and White 24 July 2007 "H" 1 24 weeks 1,170,000
9 July 2003 "&" 1 16 weeks 680,000
28 July 2004 "Inspire"/"Game" 1 15 weeks 390,000
20 April 2005 "Step You / Is This Love?" 1 19 weeks 385,000

Total single sales: 10,703,000

Live performances

  • 23 February 2007 – Music Station – "Evolution"
  • 24 February 2007 – Music Fair 21 – "Evolution", "Dearest", "Heaven"
  • 26 February 2007 – Hey! Hey! Hey! – "Dearest"
  • 26 February 2007 – SMAPxSMAP – "Voyage", "Unite!"
  • 2 March 2007 – Music Station – "Part of Me"
  • 2 March 2007 – Music Fighter – "Never Ever"
  • 2 March 2007 – PopJam – "Moments"
  • 4 March 2007 – Domoto Kyoudai – "Step You"
  • 16 March 2007 – Music Station – "Memorial Address"
  • 16 March 2007 – PopJam (final episode special) – "No Way to Say"

References

  1. ↑ ゴールド等認定作品一覧 2007年3月 [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (March 2007)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. 10 April 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Japanese Charts" (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  3. ↑ "Avex Financial Results of the first quarter of 2007 Page 2" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2009.
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