B'z The Best "Treasure"

B'z The Best "Treasure"
Compilation album by B'z
Released	September 20, 1998
Genre	Rock
Length	64:11
Label	Rooms Records
Producer	Tak Matsumoto
B'z chronology
1st Best-of B'z The Best "Pleasure" (1998) 2nd Best-of B'z The Best "Treasure" (1998) 3rd Best-of B'z The "Mixture" (2000)

B'z The Best "Treasure" is a compilation album released by B'z on September 20, 1998, just one day prior to the band's 10th anniversary. Unlike the majority of best of albums released by mainstream artists, the entire tracklisting was determined by fan polling. The album came some four months after the first official B'z compilation release, B'z The Best "Pleasure". The tracks found on Pleasure made it more of a traditional best of release, featuring several of the band's biggest hits from over the years, and were ineligible for inclusion here. As was the case with its predecessor, all tracks included here were remastered from their original forms in order to bring out the greatest possible audio fidelity.

This album marks the first occasion for many classic B'z songs to have been collected on one of the band's albums. Fan favorite B-side and top vote-getter "Koi-Gokoro (KOI-GOKORO)" appears in album form here for the first time, as do singles "BLOWIN'", "Negai", "MOTEL", and "Mienai Chikara ~INVISIBLE ONE". The only physically-released English B'z single, "Real Thing Shakes", is collected here for the first time and would not be collected again until 2013's B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998.

Upon release, B'z The Best "Treasure" premiered in the top spot on the weekly Oricon albums chart and remained at that position for three consecutive weeks, making it the top selling album for the month of its release. Despite being released only in September and just months prior to the end of the year, it was the second highest selling album for the year of 1998, trailing only its sister album, B'z The Best "Pleasure". The Recording Industry Association of Japan has certified the album as 10x Platinum for sales in excess of over four million copies, solidifying its place as the fifth highest selling album in the history of Japanese music.

Another compilation album in the same vein was released for the band's 20th anniversary, titled B'z The Best "ULTRA Treasure", that once again featured songs selected by fans.

Track listing

All music and guitar by Tak Matsumoto. All lyrics and vocals by Koshi Inaba.

Both "BLOWIN'" and "TIME" from the former's title single would be included on the collection, with the A-side and B-side both proving popular with fans, getting nods as the second and fifth top vote-getters, respectively.

The "evolving song" from B'z, "Pleasure ~Jinsei no Kairaku~", originally found in 1991 as the B-side to "LADY NAVIGATION", was one of the two songs re-recorded for this collection.

The lead song from FRIENDS, "Itsuka no Merry Christmas" and its enduring popularity guaranteed it a spot when the track listing was left to be determined by fans.

The title song of 1992's seminal album RUN was given a facelift here as well, with a new rock-oriented recording that demonstrated how far the band had come.

1. BLOWIN' — From single BLOWIN' (1992)

   Voted to 2nd place by fans. Originally released in 1992 as a single. This marked the first and only time this version of the song was included on a B'z album until 2013's B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998. For B'z The Best "ULTRA Treasure" in 2008, the band recorded a new version with the appended title of "ULTRA Treasure Style" that served as an update to the sixteen year-old song.

2. Koi-Gokoro (KOI-GOKORO) — From single ZERO (1992)

   Voted to 1st place by fans. Originally released in 1992 as a B-side on the "ZERO" single. This album was the first time the song was collected on a B'z album but not the last, as it would again be voted to near the top of the rankings for B'z The Best "ULTRA Treasure" in 2008.

3. TIME — From single BLOWIN' (1992)

   Voted to 5th place by fans. Originally released in 1992 as a B-side on the "BLOWIN'" single. With its inclusion, both songs from the aforementioned single were voted onto the album. It would make further appearances on The Ballads ~Love & B'z~ in 2002 and was selected once more by fans for B'z The Best "ULTRA Treasure" in 2008.

4. Liar! Liar! — From single Liar! Liar! (1997)

   Voted to 7th place by fans. Originally released in 1997 as a single and later included on the band's ninth studio album, SURVIVE. The version included on this album was remastered with the aid of Rockman preamps.

5. Negai — From single Negai (1995)

   Voted to 3rd place by fans. Originally released as a single in 1995 and later included on the band's eighth studio album, LOOSE, albeit in an altered state. For the band's greatest hits collections in to commemorate their twentieth anniversary, "Negai" would be found on B'z The Best "ULTRA Pleasure" and thus was ineligible to be voted again by fans for its Treasure counterpart.

6. Itoshii Hito yo Good Night... — From single Itoshii Hito yo Good Night... (1990)

   Voted to 13th place by fans. Originally released as a single in 1990 and later included on the band's fourth studio album, RISKY, which was also their first #1 of the sort. The oldest song to be included, this collection would mark its final inclusion on a B'z album.

7. Pleasure'98 ~Jinsei no Kairaku~ — Original version from single LADY NAVIGATION (1991)

   Voted to 8th place by fans. The original version, "Pleasure'91 ~Jinsei no Kairaku~", was released as a B-side on the "LADY NAVIGATION" single in 1991. While the 1991 edition was the one voted onto the album, the band decided to see to the fan's request by recording an updated rendition. Apart from being an entirely new recording, differences include a thicker sound for the guitar, a lyrics change in the second verse, and the outro being played by keyboard this time around.

8. Mienai Chikara ~INVISIBLE ONE~ — From single Mienai Chikara ~INVISIBLE ONE~/MOVE (1996)

   Voted to 11th place by fans. Originally released as a double A-side in 1996. This collection would be its first time being included on a B'z album, but in 2008, it would be gathered with a number of the band's other well-known singles for B'z The Best "ULTRA Pleasure".

9. Mou Ichido Kiss Shitakatta — From album IN THE LIFE (1992)

   Voted to 4th place by fans. Originally released in 1992 as an album song for IN THE LIFE. The highest ranking album song in the polls, it has enjoyed tremendous popularity in recent years and was even considered as the lead single from the album in place of "ALONE". Again the song would be selected as worthy by fans for B'z The Best "ULTRA Treasure" in 2008, and was previously collected on The Ballads ~Love & B'z~ in 2002.

10. FIREBALL — From single FIREBALL (1997)

    Voted to 14th place by fans. Originally released in 1997 as a single and later included on the band's ninth studio album, SURVIVE. This collection would be the last time it was included on a B'z compilation.

11. Real Thing Shakes — From single Real Thing Shakes (1996)

    Voted to 10th place by fans. Originally released as a single in 1996, the song is the only B'z single in their catalogue to be entirely in English and is also their only one-track single after Tak deemed one song as enough due to the power of the track. This marked the first and last time that the song would be included on a Japanese-released B'z album until it was at last found again on 2013's B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998.

12. MOTEL — From single MOTEL (1994)

    Voted to 9th place by fans. Originally released as a single in 1994. This marked the first occasion in which the song was found on an album, and would again be voted for inclusion by the fanbase for the 2008 follow-up, B'z The Best "ULTRA Treasure".

13. Itsuka no Merry Christmas — From mini-album FRIENDS (1992)

    Voted to 6th place by fans. Originally released in 1992 as the lead song from the mini-album FRIENDS. An instant classic from the day of its 1992 release, the song only continued to grow in popularity until, in 2008, it was this time found on the band's hits-oriented collection, B'z The Best "ULTRA Pleasure", where it was one of only three non-singles to be included. One of the band's most frequently collected songs, it would also find a place on The Ballads ~Love & B'z~ in 2002 where it opened the collection in its original incarnation, and served as a hidden track with a more up tempo version after the final song. A further, acoustic version would be released on B'z The Best "Pleasure II" in 2005.

14. RUN -1998 style- — Original version from album RUN (1992)

    Voted to 12th place by fans. The titular song of their 1992 album of the same name, the original version of "RUN" became one of the band's most well-known and well-regarded songs. As is the case here, it is often reserved to be played as a final and encore song during live performances. For this reversion, according to Koshi, the goal was to showcase the growth of the band since the original's release. The resulting edition of the song featured a more rock-oriented sound and more prominent guitar work, as well as a new intro. In addition, this version of the song served as the theme to commercial promotions for the then-new Nissan Avenir.

• HOME (Short Acoustic Version) appears as a hidden song that plays after twenty seconds of silence in the final listed track. A back to basics edition of the song featuring only Tak and Koshi, it only features a portion of their then-recent single "HOME" in acoustic form. For the chorus, Tak joins for backing vocals.

Voting results

Top 14

The fourteen songs that amassed the most votes were the songs that made up the tracks on the album. Their order on the album itself does not reflect the actual vote total, however, as B'z rearranged the top fourteen tracks to give the album as smooth a flow as possible.

No.	Song	Origin
1	Koi-Gokoro (KOI-GOKORO)	11th Single 「ZERO」 B-side First time collected on an album
2	BLOWIN'	10th Single 「BLOWIN'」 A-side Only time collected on an album as the single version until B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998
3	Negai	16th Single 「Negai」 A-side First time collected on an album as the single version
4	Mou Ichido Kiss Shitakatta	5th Album 「IN THE LIFE」 6th track
5	TIME	10th Single 「BLOWIN'」 B-side First time collected on an album
6	Itsuka no Merry Christmas	4th Mini Album 「FRIENDS」 SCENE 1
7	Liar! Liar!	23rd Single 「Liar! Liar!」 A-side Unlike the single version, Rockman Preamps were used for this collected version
8	Pleasure'91 ~Jinsei no Kairaku~	8th Single 「LADY NAVIGATION」 B-side A newly recorded rendition was included on the album
9	MOTEL	15th Single 「MOTEL」 A-side First time collected on an album
10	Real Thing Shakes	20th Single 「Real Thing Shakes」 A-side Only time collected on a Japanese-released B'z album until B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998
11	Mienai Chikara ~INVISIBLE ONE~	19th Single 「Mienai Chikara ~INVISIBLE ONE~/MOVE」 A-side First time collected on an album
12	RUN	6th Album 「RUN」 Title song A newly recorded rendition was included on the album
13	"Itoshii hito yo" Good Night...	7th Single 「"Itoshii Hito yo" Good Night...」 A-side
14	FIREBALL	21st Single 「FIREBALL」 A-side

Remaining Top 100

Apart from the top fourteen that were included on the release itself, B'z also revealed the songs that received enough votes to round out the top 100. Though these songs did not make the cut for this album, the results were later taken into consideration as B'z compiled B'z The "Mixture" just two years later.

Also of note is that when the follow-up compilation album B'z The Best "ULTRA Treasure" was released a decade later, several songs that were on the brink of making this album but fell short ended up making the cut the second time around. "Wonderful Opportunity" from IN THE LIFE ranked in at number twenty in the original Treasure polls, but for ULTRA Treasure was voted in as the fourth most requested track. "Yumemi ga Oka" from LOOSE underwent a similar resurgence with fans, as it was originally voted in as thirty-fifth but, ten years later, ranked as sixth. Notably, "Swimmer yo!!", "YOU & I", and "Gekkou", which all narrowly missed the cut for this album, were all voted in on ULTRA Treasure. Most notably, "LOVE IS DEAD", the lead track from The 7th Blues, a song that only ranked fifty-seventh in the original polling, ended up at number twenty-four for the 20th anniversary and was included.

No.	Song	Origin
15	Swimmer yo!!	9th Album 「SURVIVE」 2nd track
16	OH! GIRL	2nd Album 「OFF THE LOCK」 8th track
17	MOVE	19th Single 「Mienai Chikara ~INVISIBLE ONE~/MOVE」 Second A-side
18	Sayonara Nanka wa Iwasenai	6th Album 「RUN」 8th track
19	Kodoku no Runaway	3rd Mini Album 「MARS」 1st track
20	Wonderful Opportunity	5th Album 「IN THE LIFE」 1st track
21	YOU & I	16th Single 「Negai」 B-side
22	Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite	1st Single 「Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite」 A-side
23	NATIVE DANCE	6th Album 「RUN」 6th track
24	Happiness	9th Album 「SURVIVE」 5th track
25	Kienai Niji	8th Album 「LOOSE」 6th track
26	Gekkou	6th Album 「RUN」 9th track
27	HOT FASHION - Ryuukoukata -	4th Album 「RISKY」 3rd track
28	Shoushin	5th Mini Album 「FRIENDS II｣ 3rd track
29	Koi Jyanakunaru Hi	4th Mini Album 「FRIENDS」 SCENE 3
30	GIMME YOUR LOVE - Fukutsu no LOVE DRIVER -	4th Album 「RISKY」 2nd track
31	Aikawarazu na Bokura	5th Album 「IN THE LIFE」 9th track
32	BAD COMMUNICATION	1st Mini Album 「BAD COMMUNICATION」 Title song
33	Crazy Rendezvous	5th Album 「IN THE LIFE」 5th track
34	Hi	24th Single 「Samayoeru Aoi Dangan」 B-side
35	Yumemi ga Oka	8th Album 「LOOSE」 4th track
36	Kimi no Naka de Odoritai	2nd Single 「Kimi no Naka de Odoritai」 A-side
37	LADY-GO-ROUND	3rd Single 「LADY-GO-ROUND」 A-side
38	The Loose	8th Album 「LOOSE」 2nd track
39	WILD LIFE	5th Album 「IN THE LIFE」 7th track
40	Naite Naite Nakiyandara	9th Album 「SURVIVE」 8th track
41	Akai Kagerou	6th Album 「RUN」 3rd track
42	Akai Kawa	7th Album 「The 7th Blues」 9th track (DISC1)
43	Odekake Shimasho	7th Album 「The 7th Blues」 2nd track (DISC1)
44	Tokyo	17th Single 「love me, I love you」 B-side
45	Urei no GYPSY	5th Album 「IN THE LIFE」 4th track
46	Hoshi Furu Yoru ni Sawagou	4th Single 「BE THERE」 B-side
47	TONIGHT(Is The Night)	5th Album 「IN THE LIFE」 2nd track
48	VAMPIRE WOMAN	4th Album 「RISKY」 7th track
49	JOY	12nd Single 「Ai no Mama ni Wagamama ni...」 B-side
50	Kirei na Ai Jyanakutemo	8th Album 「LOOSE」 11th track
51	STARDUST TRAIN	3rd Album 「BREAK THROUGH」 11th track
52	Survive	9th Album 「SURVIVE」 Title song
53	Haru	7th Album 「The 7th Blues」 6th track (DISC2)
54	DEEP KISS	9th Album 「SURVIVE」 1st track
55	GUITAR KIDS RHAPSODY	2nd Album 「OFF THE LOCK」 5th track
56	Tonari de Nemurasete	3rd Album 「BREAK THROUGH」 7th track
57	LOVE IS DEAD	7th Album 「The 7th Blues」 1st track (DISC1)
58	Doushite mo Kimi wo Ushinaitakunai	4th Mini Album 「FRIENDS」 SCENE 5
59	BREAK THROUGH	3rd Album 「BREAK THROUGH」 Title song
60	hole in my heart	15th Single 「MOTEL」 B-side
61	KARA・KARA	13rd Single 「Hadashi no Megami」 B-side
62	BIG	8th Album 「LOOSE」 12nd track
63	Do me	9th Album 「SURVIVE」 7th track
64	Yaburenu Yume wo Hikizutte	7th Album 「The 7th Blues」 7th track (DISC2)
65	HOLY NIGHT ni Kuchizuke wo	4th Album 「RISKY」 6th track
66	NEVER LET YOU GO	2nd Album 「OFF THE LOCK」 3rd track
67	SNOW	5th Mini Album 「FRIENDS II」 2nd track
68	Soredemo Kimi ni wa Modorenai	5th Album 「IN THE LIFE」 8th track
69	Love & Chain	3rd Single 「LADY-GO-ROUND」 B-side
70	GUITAR wa Naiteiru	3rd Album 「BREAK THROUGH」 5th track
71	Suna no Hanabira	8th Album 「LOOSE」 10th track
72	"Kairaku no Heya"	5th Album 「IN THE LIFE」 3rd track
73	FUSHIDARA 100%	18th Single 「LOVE PHANTOM」 B-side
74	SAFETY LOVE	2nd Single 「Kimi no Naka de Odoritai」 B-side
75	GO! NUDE! GO!	6th Single 「Easy Come, Easy Go!」 B-side
76	Pleasure'95 ~Jinsei no Kairaku~	Only performed live—viewable on 「"BUZZ!!" THE MOVIE」
77	Ima de wa... Ima nara... Ima mo...	3rd Album 「BREAK THROUGH」 9th track
78	ROSY	2nd Album 「OFF THE LOCK」 9th track
79	MY SAD LOVE	7th Album 「The 7th Blues」 5th track (DISC1)
80	Baby, you're my home	6th Album 「RUN」 10th track
81	THE GAMBLER	6th Album 「RUN」 1st track
82	HURRY UP!	2nd Album 「OFF THE LOCK」 2nd track
83	Biri Biri	23rd Single 「Liar! Liar!」 B-side
84	BAD COMMUNICATION (000-18)	8th Album 「LOOSE」 5th track
85	MR. ROLLING THUNDER	6th Album 「RUN」 7th track
86	Yoru ni Furarete mo	2nd Album 「OFF THE LOCK」 6th track
87	Miseinen	7th Album 「The 7th Blues」 3rd track (DISC1)
88	RISKY	4th Album 「RISKY」 Title song
89	LOVING ALL NIGHT	2nd Album 「OFF THE LOCK」 7th track
90	It's Raining...	4th Album 「RISKY」 10th track
91	Teki ga Inakerya	8th Album 「LOOSE」 9th track
92	WILD ROAD	7th Album 「The 7th Blues」 10th track (DISC1)
93	Yami no Ame	7th Album 「The 7th Blues」 4th track (DISC1)
94	CAT	9th Album 「SURVIVE」 9th track
95	Kimi wo Tsurete	5th Mini Album 「FRIENDS II」 7th track
96	Out Of Control	6th Album 「RUN」 5th track
97	DA.KA.RA.SO.NO.TE.O.HA.NA.SHI.TE -OFF THE LOCK STYLE-	1st Mini Album 「BAD COMMUNICATION」 3rd track
98	FRIDAY MIDNIGHT BLUE	4th Album 「RISKY」 9th track
99	Kanashiki dreamer	21st Single 「FIREBALL」 B-side
100	GO-GO-GIRLS	9th Single 「ALONE」 B-side