A Best 2


A Best 2 is a series of greatest hits albums by Japanese singer Ayumi Hamasaki, which were released simultaneously on by Avex Trax. The two-volume release is a direct successor to A Best 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.

A Best 2: Black

A Best 2: Black includes a previously unreleased track, "Part of Me" and its accompanying music video. The song was certified gold for 100,000 legal downloads.

Track listing

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"
  13. "Heaven"
  14. "Part of Me"
  15. "H"
2nd DVD – Best of CountDown Live 2006–2007
  1. Best of CountDown Live 2006–2007

    Charts

Oricon Sales Chart
ReleaseChartPeak PositionFirst Week SalesSales TotalChart Run
Oricon Daily Albums Chart1
Oricon Weekly Albums Chart2470,057702,90052
Oricon Monthly Albums Chart3
Oricon Yearly Albums Chart7

On this release was confirmed by her official website. On, track listing for both CDs were officially released. The album covers and DVD track listings were released on.

Track listing

DVD track listing

1st DVD – Promotional Videos
  1. "Evolution"
  2. "Grateful Days"
  3. "Humming 7/4"
  4. "Unite!"
  5. "Real me"
  6. "My Name's Women"
  7. "Ourselves"
  8. "Inspire"
  9. "Step you"
  10. "Fairyland"
  11. "Voyage"
  12. "Moments"
  13. "H"
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
ReleaseChartPeak PositionFirst Week SalesSales TotalChart Run
Oricon Daily Albums Chart1
Oricon Weekly Albums Chart1475,284721,85052
Oricon Monthly Albums Chart2
Oricon Yearly Albums Chart5

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.
Oricon Sales Chart
ReleaseChartPeak PositionOricon Sales TotalAvex Sales TotalChart Run
Oricon Daily Albums Chart1 170,000200,0001 day
Oricon Weekly Albums Chart1
2 		945,3411,000,0001 week
Oricon Monthly Albums Chart2
3 		646,479, 632,999 1,200,0004 weeks
Oricon Yearly Albums Chart4
5 		1,424,734 2,000,00052 weeks

A Best 2 as a whole performed very well on the Taiwan Charts. A Best 2: White topped the Taiwan Charts for 8 weeks, while A Best 2: Black has been following behind at #2 consistently, achieving peak at #1 on the second week of being released.

Featured singles

Total Single Sales: 9,909,689

Live performances