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Difference between revisions of "A Best"
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{| width=100% style="padding: 0px; background:#ffffff; border: 0" cellspacing="12" |
+
[[Image:Hamasaki Ayumi - A BEST.jpg|thumb|350px|Album Cover]]
−
|  
+
[[File:ABEST15thLimitedEdition.jpg|thumb|300px|15th Anniversary Limited Edition Cover]]
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{{AlbumInfoBox|
+
[[File:15thABESTRegular.jpg|thumb|300px|15th Anniversary Regular Edition Cover]]
−
| Name = A BEST
+
; Artist
−
| Type = Album
+
:[[Hamasaki Ayumi]]
−
| Artist = [[Hamasaki Ayumi]]
+
; Album
−
| Cover = abest.jpg
+
: A BEST
−
| Background = lightgray
+
; Released
−
| Released = 28 March 2001
+
: 2001.03.28 <small>(Japan)</small>
−
| Genre = [[Pop]]
+
: 2001.03.29 <small>(Overseas)</small>
−
| Length = 1:16:03
+
: 2006.07.31 <small>(South Korea - Special Edition)</small>
−
| Label = [[avex trax]]
+
: 2012.03.21 <small>(Japan - PLAYBUTTON)</small>
−
| Last Release = ''[[Duty]]'' <br /> (2000)
+
: 2016.03.28 <small>(15th Anniversary Edition - Japan)</small>
−
| This Release = '''A BEST''' <br /> (2001)
+
: 2016.04.06 <small>(15th Anniversary Edition - Taiwan)</small>
−
| Next Release = ''[[I am...]]'' (2002)
+
; Catalog Code
−
| Category = 2001 Albums
+
: AVCD-11950 <small>(CD - Japan)</small>
−
}}
+
: AVTCD-95461 <small>(CD - Hong Kong)</small>
 +
: AQZD-50667 <small>(PLAYBUTTON)</small>
 +
: AVZD-93409/B/C <small>(15th Anniversary Limited Edition)</small>
 +
: AVCD-93410 <small>(15th Anniversary Regular Edition)</small>
 +
; Price
 +
: ¥3,059 <small>(CD)</small>
 +
: ¥2,800 <small>(PLAYBUTTON)</small>
 +
: ¥9,720 <small>(15th Limited Edition)</small>
 +
: ¥3,024 <small>(15th Regular Edition)</small>
  
−
'''''A BEST''''' is Ayumi Hamasaki's first best-of compilation album, released in March 2001.
+
; Tracklist
 +
# [[A Song for XX (song)|A Song for ×× (New Vocal & Mix)]]
 +
# [[Trust (Hamasaki Ayumi)|Trust (New Vocal & Mix)]]
 +
# [[Depend on You|Depend on you (New Vocal & Mix)]]
 +
# [[Love ~Destiny~|LOVE ~Destiny~]]
 +
# [[To Be|TO BE]]
 +
# [[Boys & Girls]]
 +
# [[Trauma (Hamasaki Ayumi)|Trauma]]
 +
# [[End Roll (Hamasaki Ayumi)|End roll]]
 +
# [[Appears|appears]]
 +
# [[Fly High (Hamasaki Ayumi)|Fly high]]
 +
# [[Vogue|vogue]]
 +
# [[Far Away (Hamasaki Ayumi)|Far away]]
 +
# [[Seasons|SEASONS]]
 +
# [[Surreal|SURREAL]]
 +
# [[M (Hamasaki Ayumi)|M]]
 +
# [[Who...]]
  
−
After three albums, it was time, according to producer Max Matsuura, for Hamasaki to release her best-of compilation. Knowing that this usually meant the end of a pop singer's career, Hamasaki fought against the release. Eventually, the tracks for this compilation were hand-chosen by the singer and, as a form of rebellion against the label and as a gift to her fans, she re-recorded vocals on four tracks. The cover of the album shows Hamasaki shedding a tear.
+
; DVD/Blu-ray Tracklist (15th Anniversary Edition)
 +
# [[Trust (Hamasaki Ayumi)|Trust]]
 +
# [[Depend on You|Depend on you]]
 +
# [[Love ~Destiny~|LOVE ~Destiny~]]
 +
# [[To Be|TO BE]]
 +
# [[Boys & Girls]]
 +
# [[Appears|appears]]
 +
# [[Fly High (Hamasaki Ayumi)|Fly high]]
 +
# [[Vogue|vogue]] ~ [[Far Away (Hamasaki Ayumi)|Far away]] ~ [[Seasons|SEASONS]]
 +
# [[Surreal|SURREAL]]
 +
# [[M (Hamasaki Ayumi)|M]]
  
−
The first pressing of the album came in a slipcase with that cover. One of six random jacket photos would be on the cover of the CD booklet itself, only visible after the purchaser opened the case.
 
  
−
Hamasaki chose favorites such as "A Song for XX" and "Who..." rather than putting only hit singles on the album. Although the album was released after the "NEVER EVER" single, the most recent single it covers is "M."
+
; Information
 +
''A BEST'' is the first "best of" album released by [[Hamasaki Ayumi]]. There is some controversy surrounding this album as it has the same release date of [[Utada Hikaru]]'s ''[[Distance (Utada Hikaru album)|Distance]]'' album, thus staggering the sales of both albums. Whether [[avex]] intentionally pushed the release of this album to be at the same time as ''[[Distance (Utada Hikaru album)|Distance]]'' remains a controversial topic. It is also rumored that the cover image, depicting Ayumi with a tear rolling down her cheek, was chosen by her as a protest to the false media reports that she and Utada are personal rivals.  
  
−
The songs "A Song for XX," "Trust," and "Depend on you" are listed on the CD case as having a "new vocal & mix", however, "End roll" also received this treatment, and "Boys & Girls" has a new mix.
+
The songs "[[A Song for XX (song)|A Song for ××]]", "[[Trust (Hamasaki Ayumi)|Trust]]" and "[[Depend on You|Depend on you]]" were re-recorded for this album along with "[[End Roll (Hamasaki Ayumi)|End roll]]," which wasn't announced to be re-recorded, and "[[Boys & Girls]]," which had a new instrumental part but the voice still being the same as the older version. Though this was her best selling album, Hamasaki Ayumi opposed of it publicly, stating "it was too early for release". This album sold more than 4,300,000 copies to date. The album reached #1 on the Oricon Album Charts and charted for 51 weeks. ''A BEST'' was re-released the same day as for ''[[A Best 2 -Black-|A BEST 2 -BLACK-]]'' and ''[[A Best 2 -White-|A BEST 2 -WHITE-]]''.
  
−
Aside from the new versions listed above, "A BEST" uses the album versions & mixes of all songs when applicable.
+
The album was re-released as ''A BEST -15th Anniversary Edition-'' fifteen years later, including remastered tracks by Stephen Marcussen.  It was released in two versions: a deluxe CD+DVD+Blu-ray that comes with a t-shirt, anniversary book, sumapura music, and sumapura movie, and a CD Only edition that comes with sumapura music.
  
−
A DVD-Audio version of this album was planned for 2003 but scrapped.
+
==Covers==
 +
The album came in a slipcase, with 6 different possible cover images for the booklet.
 +
{|border="0" align="center"
 +
|[[Image:ABESTJacketA.jpg|thumb|140px]]
 +
|[[Image:ABESTJacketB.jpg|thumb|140px]]
 +
|[[Image:ABESTJacketC.jpg|thumb|140px]]
 +
|[[Image:ABESTJacketD.jpg|thumb|140px]]
 +
|[[Image:ABESTJacketE.jpg|thumb|140px]]
 +
|[[Image:ABESTJacketF.jpg|thumb|140px]]
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
==Charts & Sales==
 +
[[File:A-bestpromo.jpg|240px|thumb|Hamasaki promoting the album.]]
 +
===Oricon Chart Positions===
 +
; Original release
 +
 
 +
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" style="margin: 1em; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
 +
|- style="background:#efefef"
 +
!Mon||Tue||Wed||Thu||Fri||Sat||Sun||Week Rank||Sales
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||2        ||2,874,870
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||1        ||510,160
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||2        ||240,950
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||3        ||130,390
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||4        ||103,250
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||5        ||89,550
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||9        ||37,020
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||9        ||30,890
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||9        ||24,260
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||16        ||20,140
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||17      ||18,370
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||16      ||14,960
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||21        ||13,840
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||23        ||12,570
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||23        ||10,840
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||21        ||11,630
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||26        ||9,530
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||34        ||8,030
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||30        ||7,500
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||31        ||8,060
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||24        ||10,370
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||37        ||7,330
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||40        ||7,880
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||45        ||5,270
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||43        ||4,360
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||55        ||3,820
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||52        ||5,010
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||42        ||5,070
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||38        ||5,040
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||41        ||4,980
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||76        ||3,680
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||78        ||3,490
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||87        ||3,090
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||95        ||2,440
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||colspan="2"|<small>out for three weeks
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||74        ||3,980
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||68        ||4,910
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||rowspan="2"|47||rowspan="2"|16,270
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||- 
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||55        ||4,380
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||72        ||3,440
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||colspan="2"|<small>out for forty-three weeks
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||242        ||1,415
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||rowspan="2"|280||rowspan="2"|3,071
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||- 
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||254        ||1,239
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||281        ||1,111
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||colspan="2"|<small>out for sixty-three weeks
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||133        ||1,326
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||293      ||766
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||293        ||696
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||colspan="2"|<small>out for 146 weeks
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||155        ||1,425
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||252        ||868
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||-  ||299        ||642
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
* '''Total Reported Sales:''' 4,294,179
 +
 
 +
; A BEST -15th Anniversary Edition-
 +
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" style="margin: 1em; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;"
 +
|- style="background:#efefef"
 +
!Mon||Tue||Wed||Thu||Fri||Sat||Sun||Week Rank||Sales
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||- ||9 ||25 ||11  ||2  ||9        ||9,413
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||4 ||20  ||17 ||18 ||19 ||21  ||34  ||16        ||5,097
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||18 ||42  ||36 ||40 ||40 ||36  ||22  ||33        ||1,364
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||27 ||-  ||- ||49 ||46 ||-  ||-  ||59        ||819
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||36 ||-  ||- ||- ||- ||-  ||-  ||112        ||589
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||- ||- ||- ||-  ||-  ||178        ||467
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||- ||- ||- ||-  ||-  ||212        ||309
 +
|- align="center"
 +
||- ||-  ||- ||- ||- ||-  ||-  ||292        ||219
 +
|}
  
−
A BEST charted at #2 on the Oricon charts on its first week selling 2,874,870 copies but on its 2nd week it charted on '''#1''' on the weekly charts.
+
* '''Total Sales:''' 18,277 (#258 album of 2016)
−
In total it sold 4,295,353 copies being the 6th best selling Japanese album of all times.
 
−
On 2007 after 6 years from the album's release A BEST charted again for a couple of weeks.
 
  
−
==Track Listing==
+
===Chart Positions===
−
===CD===
+
{| style="margin: 1em; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse" border="1" cellpadding="2"
−
{| class="wikitable" width="650px"
+
|- bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
−
!align="left"|#
+
! rowspan="2" width="70" | Country
−
!align="left"|Track Name
+
! rowspan="2" width="150" | Chart
−
!align="left"|Length
+
! colspan="2" | 2006 Weeks
−
!align="left"|Credits
+
! colspan="2" | 2007 Weeks
−
|-
+
|- bgcolor="#EEEEEE"
−
|align="left"|1.
+
! width="20" |
−
|align="left"|A Song for XX (New Vocal & Mix)
+
<small>01</small>
−
|align="left"|04:47
+
! width="20" |
−
!align="left"|Music: Yasuhiko Hoshino/Arrangement: Akimitsu Honma
+
<small>02</small>
−
|-
+
! width="20" |
−
|align="left"|2.
+
<small>11</small>
−
|align="left"|Trust (New Vocal & Mix)
+
! width="20" |
−
|align="left"|04:49
+
<small>12</small>
−
!align="left"|Music: Takashi Kimura/Arrangement: Takashi Kimura, Akimitsu Honma
+
|- align="center"
−
|-
+
| Japan
−
|align="left"|3.
+
| Worldwide
−
|align="left"|Depend on you (New Vocal & Mix)
+
| 2
−
|align="left"|04:18
+
| 1
−
!align="left"|Music: Kazuhito Kikuchi/Arrangement: Takashi Kimura, Takashi Morio
+
| -
−
|-
+
| -
−
|align="left"|4.
+
|- align="center"
−
|align="left"|LOVE ~Destiny~
+
| Japan
−
|align="left"|04:55
+
| All Music
−
!align="left"|Music: TSUNKU/Arrangement: Shingo Kobayashi, Yasuaki Maejima
+
| -
−
|-
+
| 1
−
|align="left"|5.
+
| 327
−
|align="left"|TO BE
+
| -
−
|align="left"|05:20
+
|- align="center"
−
!align="left"|Music: D.A.I/Arrangement: Naoto Suzuki, D.A.I
+
| Japan
−
|-
+
| Greatest Hits Best Sellers
−
|align="left"|6.
+
| 1
−
|align="left"|Boys & Girls (New Mix)
+
| 1
−
|align="left"|03:55
+
| 30
−
!align="left"|Music: D.A.I/Arrangement: Naoto Suzuki, D.A.I
+
| -
−
|-
+
|- align="center"
−
|align="left"|7.
+
| Japan
−
|align="left"|Trauma
+
| J-pop Best Sellers
−
|align="left"|04:18
+
| -
−
!align="left"|Music: D.A.I/Arrangement: Naoto Suzuki, D.A.I
+
| 1
−
|-
+
| 135
−
|align="left"|8.
+
| -
−
|align="left"|End roll (New Vocal & Mix)
+
|- align="center"
−
|align="left"|04:42
+
| Japan
−
!align="left"|Music: D.A.I/Arrangement: Naoto Suzuki, D.A.I
+
| J-pop Greatest Hits
−
|-
+
| 1
−
|align="left"|9.
+
| 1
−
|align="left"|appears
+
| 23
−
|align="left"|05:39
+
| -
−
!align="left"|Music: Kazuhito Kikuchi/Arrangement: HΛL
 
−
|-
 
−
|align="left"|10.
 
−
|align="left"|Fly high
 
−
|align="left"|04:08
 
−
!align="left"|Music: D.A.I/Arrangement: HΛL
 
−
|-
 
−
|align="left"|11.
 
−
|align="left"|vogue
 
−
|align="left"|04:28
 
−
!align="left"|Music: Kazuhito Kikuchi/Arrangement: Naoto Suzuki, Kazuhito Kikuchi
 
−
|-
 
−
|align="left"|12.
 
−
|align="left"|Far away
 
−
|align="left"|05:36
 
−
!align="left"|Music: Kazuhito Kikuchi, D.A.I/Arrangement: HΛL
 
−
|-
 
−
|align="left"|13.
 
−
|align="left"|SEASONS
 
−
|align="left"|04:26
 
−
!align="left"|Music: D.A.I/Arrangement: Naoto Suzuki
 
−
|-
 
−
|align="left"|14.
 
−
|align="left"|SURREAL
 
−
|align="left"|04:43
 
−
!align="left"|Music: Kazuhito Kikuchi/Arrangement: HΛL
 
−
|-
 
−
|align="left"|15.
 
−
|align="left"|M
 
−
|align="left"|04:29
 
−
!align="left"|Music: CREA/Arrangement: HΛL
 
−
|-
 
−
|align="left"|16.
 
−
|align="left"|Who...
 
−
|align="left"|05:36
 
−
!align="left"|Music: Kazuhito Kikuchi/Arrangement: Naoto Suzuki
 
−
|-
 
 
|}
 
|}
−
|-
 
−
|
 
  
−
==Internal Links==
+
===Downloads===
−
*[[Hamasaki Ayumi]]
+
* A BEST was the 3rd most downloaded album in Japan in 2014, 13 years after the original release.
 +
* A BEST was the 2nd most downloaded album in Japan in 2015, 14 years after the original release.
  
−
|-
 
−
|
 
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
−
*[http://ayumi.primenova.com Divine Ayu]
+
* Oricon Profile: [https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/246497/products/435016/1/ A BEST] | [http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/246497/products/1168910/1/ 15th Anniversary Limited Edition] | [http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/246497/products/1168909/1/ 15th Anniversary Regular Edition]
−
|}
+
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kle0kD1AviQ 『A BEST』TRACK LIST LIVE @ ayu's Official YouTube Channel]
  
 
{{Hamasaki_Ayumi}}
 
{{Hamasaki_Ayumi}}
 
[[Category:J-Pop (releases)]]
 
[[Category:J-Pop (releases)]]
 +
[[Category:2001 Albums]]
 +
[[Category:2016 Albums]]
 +
[[Category:Best Album]]
 +
[[Category:2001 Oricon Top 100 Albums]]
 +
[[Category:1,000,000 Plus Album Sales]]
 +
[[Category:2001 Number 1 Albums]]
 +
[[Category:March 2001]]
 +
[[Category:March 2016]]
 +
[[Category:4 Million Albums]]
 +
__NOTOC__

Latest revision as of 13:16, 12 June 2020

Album Cover
15th Anniversary Limited Edition Cover
15th Anniversary Regular Edition Cover
Artist
Hamasaki Ayumi
Album
A BEST
Released
2001.03.28 (Japan)
2001.03.29 (Overseas)
2006.07.31 (South Korea - Special Edition)
2012.03.21 (Japan - PLAYBUTTON)
2016.03.28 (15th Anniversary Edition - Japan)
2016.04.06 (15th Anniversary Edition - Taiwan)
Catalog Code
AVCD-11950 (CD - Japan)
AVTCD-95461 (CD - Hong Kong)
AQZD-50667 (PLAYBUTTON)
AVZD-93409/B/C (15th Anniversary Limited Edition)
AVCD-93410 (15th Anniversary Regular Edition)
Price
¥3,059 (CD)
¥2,800 (PLAYBUTTON)
¥9,720 (15th Limited Edition)
¥3,024 (15th Regular Edition)
Tracklist
  1. A Song for ×× (New Vocal & Mix)
  2. Trust (New Vocal & Mix)
  3. Depend on you (New Vocal & Mix)
  4. LOVE ~Destiny~
  5. TO BE
  6. Boys & Girls
  7. Trauma
  8. End roll
  9. appears
  10. Fly high
  11. vogue
  12. Far away
  13. SEASONS
  14. SURREAL
  15. M
  16. Who...
DVD/Blu-ray Tracklist (15th Anniversary Edition)
  1. Trust
  2. Depend on you
  3. LOVE ~Destiny~
  4. TO BE
  5. Boys & Girls
  6. appears
  7. Fly high
  8. vogue ~ Far away ~ SEASONS
  9. SURREAL
  10. M


Information

A BEST is the first "best of" album released by Hamasaki Ayumi. There is some controversy surrounding this album as it has the same release date of Utada Hikaru's Distance album, thus staggering the sales of both albums. Whether avex intentionally pushed the release of this album to be at the same time as Distance remains a controversial topic. It is also rumored that the cover image, depicting Ayumi with a tear rolling down her cheek, was chosen by her as a protest to the false media reports that she and Utada are personal rivals.

The songs "A Song for ××", "Trust" and "Depend on you" were re-recorded for this album along with "End roll," which wasn't announced to be re-recorded, and "Boys & Girls," which had a new instrumental part but the voice still being the same as the older version. Though this was her best selling album, Hamasaki Ayumi opposed of it publicly, stating "it was too early for release". This album sold more than 4,300,000 copies to date. The album reached #1 on the Oricon Album Charts and charted for 51 weeks. A BEST was re-released the same day as for A BEST 2 -BLACK- and A BEST 2 -WHITE-.

The album was re-released as A BEST -15th Anniversary Edition- fifteen years later, including remastered tracks by Stephen Marcussen. It was released in two versions: a deluxe CD+DVD+Blu-ray that comes with a t-shirt, anniversary book, sumapura music, and sumapura movie, and a CD Only edition that comes with sumapura music.

Covers

The album came in a slipcase, with 6 different possible cover images for the booklet.

ABESTJacketA.jpg
ABESTJacketB.jpg
ABESTJacketC.jpg
ABESTJacketD.jpg
ABESTJacketE.jpg
ABESTJacketF.jpg

Charts & Sales

Hamasaki promoting the album.

Oricon Chart Positions

Original release
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Week Rank Sales
- - - - - - - 2 2,874,870
- - - - - - - 1 510,160
- - - - - - - 2 240,950
- - - - - - - 3 130,390
- - - - - - - 4 103,250
- - - - - - - 5 89,550
- - - - - - - 9 37,020
- - - - - - - 9 30,890
- - - - - - - 9 24,260
- - - - - - - 16 20,140
- - - - - - - 17 18,370
- - - - - - - 16 14,960
- - - - - - - 21 13,840
- - - - - - - 23 12,570
- - - - - - - 23 10,840
- - - - - - - 21 11,630
- - - - - - - 26 9,530
- - - - - - - 34 8,030
- - - - - - - 30 7,500
- - - - - - - 31 8,060
- - - - - - - 24 10,370
- - - - - - - 37 7,330
- - - - - - - 40 7,880
- - - - - - - 45 5,270
- - - - - - - 43 4,360
- - - - - - - 55 3,820
- - - - - - - 52 5,010
- - - - - - - 42 5,070
- - - - - - - 38 5,040
- - - - - - - 41 4,980
- - - - - - - 76 3,680
- - - - - - - 78 3,490
- - - - - - - 87 3,090
- - - - - - - 95 2,440
- - - - - - - out for three weeks
- - - - - - - 74 3,980
- - - - - - - 68 4,910
- - - - - - - 47 16,270
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - 55 4,380
- - - - - - - 72 3,440
- - - - - - - out for forty-three weeks
- - - - - - - 242 1,415
- - - - - - - 280 3,071
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - 254 1,239
- - - - - - - 281 1,111
- - - - - - - out for sixty-three weeks
- - - - - - - 133 1,326
- - - - - - - 293 766
- - - - - - - 293 696
- - - - - - - out for 146 weeks
- - - - - - - 155 1,425
- - - - - - - 252 868
- - - - - - - 299 642
  • Total Reported Sales: 4,294,179
A BEST -15th Anniversary Edition-
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Week Rank Sales
- - - 9 25 11 2 9 9,413
4 20 17 18 19 21 34 16 5,097
18 42 36 40 40 36 22 33 1,364
27 - - 49 46 - - 59 819
36 - - - - - - 112 589
- - - - - - - 178 467
- - - - - - - 212 309
- - - - - - - 292 219
  • Total Sales: 18,277 (#258 album of 2016)

Chart Positions

Country Chart 2006 Weeks 2007 Weeks

01

02

11

12

Japan Worldwide 2 1 - -
Japan All Music - 1 327 -
Japan Greatest Hits Best Sellers 1 1 30 -
Japan J-pop Best Sellers - 1 135 -
Japan J-pop Greatest Hits 1 1 23 -

Downloads

  • A BEST was the 3rd most downloaded album in Japan in 2014, 13 years after the original release.
  • A BEST was the 2nd most downloaded album in Japan in 2015, 14 years after the original release.

External Links

v • d • e
Hamasaki Ayumi
Songs · Images · Magazine List
Studio Albums
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 Hamasaki Ayumi - MASK promo.jpg
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Live Albums
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Digital Singles
01 · 02 · 03 · 04 · 05 · 06 · 07 · 08 · 09 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14
Remix Singles
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Video Releases
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Box Set
Official Website
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