Deep Dive: Ayumi Hamasaki Part Twelve (A BEST 2 -Black- & A BEST 2 -WHITE-)

    Hamasaki Ayumi's A BEST was so iconic that it pretty much became its own brand. Especially the way the A is stylized, and she has used that practically since the beginning with her best-selling single, "A." I'm not even kidding, my dad watched an episode of MTV's Ridiculousness, and one of the videos they showed featured Hamasaki's iconic "A" in it. Branding 100. In 2007, Hamasaki released not one but two best-of albums, A BEST 2 -BLACK- & A BEST 2 -WHITE-. Further showing how much she loves opposites. And I have to say that much like the original A BEST these two have become iconic in their own right. Though there's not much new here, so we're just going to cover them both in one post. Let's best 2 this deep dive (that makes no sense).

    There are so many iconic hits here it's not even funny. BLACK features the darker songs while WHITE features the lighter songs. Hence the titles. What was surprising to me upon first listens of these two albums years ago is that 1. BLACK features the new song, but it did not reach #1 on the charts, WHITE did. 2. We have some deep cuts on both of these outings, but most of them come from MY STORY. And I'm not going to complain about that because that album and its songs featured here are excellent. It just goes to prove Hamasaki's so proud of her work on that album. And 3. I really, really, REALLY wish that WHITE had featured a new song as well that is the opposite of "Part of Me." That's really one of my only regrets about A BEST 2. I feel like the material featured on both of these albums do represent Hamasaki's output during this stretch of albums so well though.

    I do also like that the albums aren't in sequential order by release. It helps them feel like their own bodies of work and it gives you a new appreciation of the songs you've come to know and love. You also get to appreciate Hamasaki's consistency of releasing high quality songs. Her discography is one truly to be cherished! 

    These album covers and concepts and visuals are also just so pretty and timeless. They're so clean and Hamasaki looks so pretty. They really knocked it out of the park. I couldn't figure out which version to feature as the article profile pic, so I finally found one picture that combined both of the covers.

    The songs were all remastered for these albums except for the new song, "Part of Me." And they sound amazing. So crisp and clean with no caffeine. And just as refreshing as Sprite. Which makes getting these albums worth it alone. 

    I think my one complaint is that WHITE features no new material while BLACK gets one new song that is unique to it and doesn't appear on any other Hamasaki release (thus far). Though, "independent" appears here for the first time on an album, and it doesn't have "+" attached to it. Although Hamasaki's solo version is superior, I think they should have put the single version of "A Song is born" with KEIKO on here to give that version a home. And to make WHITE more of a must-have.  

    As far as the new music here, "part of Me" is an excellent song. It's Hamasaki to an A. She sounds so great on this song and gives us one of her most solid vocal performances. There's nothing about this song that isn't a delicacy. It's perfection. I highly recommend giving it a listen and inevitably falling in love with it. 

    "Memorial Address" features as a hidden track after "part of Me." It's a nice touch that wraps up a disc full of melancholy. 

    Overall, A BEST 2 is a career victory lap for Hamasaki. She's showing off everything good that she has, and it's all perfect. An artist in her prime doing what she does best. And the best part is that she still continues to give us high quality art even after this release. There are still great things to come. 

Rank: S Rank 2 -BLACK- & S Rank 2 -WHITE-

Recommendation: When you want no filler, you will be reaching for Black & White!

Standouts:

    part of Me

    They're best albums. Everything stands out.