B'z The "Mixture"

B'z The The "Mixture"
Compilation album by B'z
Released	February 23, 2000
Genre	Hard rock
Length	1:06:13
Label	BERG Label (BMG Japan & Being)
Producer	Tak Matsumoto
B'z chronology
2nd Best-of B'z The Best "Treasure" (1998) 3rd Best-of B'z The "Mixture" (2000) 4th Best-of The Ballads ~Love & B'z~ (2002)

B'z The "Mixture" is the third compilation album by B'z, released on February 23, 2000. The release brings together some of the band's most beloved early tracks for the first time in an official compilation, with eleven of its sixteen tracks being complete re-recordings or remixes. The re-recordings carry the moniker "Mixture style" that indicates the entire song has been overhauled to more adequately match the band in their more recent incarnation as a hard rock outfit. Those labeled "Mixture mix" were remixes carried out by the band in order to provide revisions to songs they wanted to revisit. The album also collects for the first time one half of their 1996 double A-side with "MOVE" and previously uncollected B-sides "FUSHIDARA 100%", "Hi" and "The Wild Wind".

At the time of its release, the album was considered not a "best album" as previous compilations had been known but a "must album". This was due to its precarious position in the band's catalogue as a result of being released by BERG Label—a joint effort by BMG Japan and Being formed in 1998. BMG Japan had been the original home for B'z in their earliest recording efforts prior to migrating to Being to have more control over their output and retain rights to their recordings. Because their original contract with BMG Japan resulted in the entity retaining the master rights to the band's self-titled debut album, second album OFF THE LOCK, third album BREAK THROUGH, and mini album BAD COMMUNICATION, B'z were unable to source tracks from those releases for future compilations.

The situation came to a head when BMG Japan decided to preempt the release of the band's first proper compilations in their tenth anniversary year by releasing an unofficial compilation entitled Flash Back -B'z Early Special Titles- that compiled many of the recordings still under their control. After the band's two official compilations sold nearly ten million copies, and ranked as two of the type five highest selling albums in Japanese history, two additional years would pass before the two sides decided to use the project that became B'z The "Mixture" to help reconcile the relationship between the various parties.

In more recent years, B'z The "Mixture" has been recast as a "best" compilation alongside the likes of B'z The Best "Pleasure" and B'z The Best "Treasure". Additionally, the original recordings of the band's first three singles that were once under BMG Japan control were at last recorded in a B'z compilation with the 2013 release of B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998.

Track listing

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

1. Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite -Mixture style- — So Let Go of That Hand, だからその手を離して

   File:b03 01.ogg .

2. YOU & I -Mixture mix-

   File:b03 02.ogg .

3. OH! GIRL -Mixture style-

   File:b03 03.ogg .

4. NEVER LET YOU GO -Mixture style-

   File:b03 04.ogg .

5. JOY -Mixture mix-

   File:b03 05.ogg .

6. Ima de wa... Ima Nara... Ima mo... -Mixture style- — Right Now... If Now... And Now..., 今では・・・今なら・・・今も・・・

   File:b03 06.ogg .

7. Kodoku no Runaway -Mixture style- — Lonely Runaway, 孤独のRunaway

   File:b03 07.ogg .

8. MOVE

   File:b03 08.ogg .

9. Tokyo -Mixture mix- — 東京

   File:b03 09.ogg .

10. hole in my heart -Mixture mix-

    File:b03 10.ogg .

11. KARA·KARA -Mixture mix- — DROUGHT

    File:b03 11.ogg .

12. FUSHIDARA 100% — SLUTTY 100%

    File:b03 12.ogg .

13. Biribiri -Mixture mix- — Shiver, ビリビリ

    File:b03 13.ogg .

14. Hi

    File:b03 14.ogg .

15. The Wild Wind

    File:b03 15.ogg .

16. Anata Nara Kamawanai — I Don't Mind if It's You, あなたならかまわない

    File:b03 16.ogg .

Sales data

Main article: B'z Sales Records

No.	Cover	Compilation	Physical Copies Sold		Chart Positions			Certification
			FIRST WEEK	LIFETIME	WEEK	MONTH	YEAR
3		B'z The "Mixture" 2000.02.23	1,101,440+	1,499,810+	1	—	8	Million

Personnel

B'z

• Tak Matsumoto: Guitar, Music Composition, Arrangement
• Koshi Inaba: Vocals, Lyric Composition, Arrangement (Tracks 1, 2, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)

Support Members

• Kaichi Kurose: Drums (Tracks 1, 3, 7)
• Hideo Yamaki: Drums (Tracks 2, 4, 6, 13, 14, 15, 16)
• Jun Aoyama: Drums (Tracks 9, 10, 11)
• Soul Tool: Drums (Track 8)
• Ikkoh Tanaka: Drums (Track 5)
• Denny Fongheiser: Drums (Track 12)
• Masao Akashi: Bass (Tracks 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15), Manipulator (Tracks 5, 10, 11), Synthesizer (Track 3, 4, 6, 7), Arrangement (Tracks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11)
• Akihito Tokunaga: Bass, Synthesizer (Track 16), Arrangement (Tracks 13 & 16)
• Showtaro Mitsuzono: Bass (Track 1, 3, 7)
• Koji "Kitaroh" Nakamura: Bass (Tracks 2, 4, 6)
• Daisuke Ikeda: Manipulator (Tracks 2 & 12), Synthesizer (Track 15), Arrangement (Tracks 9 & 12)
• Akira Onozuka: Piano (Tracks 2 & 9), Synthesizer (Track 2), Organ (Tracks 14 & 16)
• Takanobu Masuda: Organ (Tracks 8, 10, 12), Moog (Track 12)
• Shiro Sasaki: Trumpet (Track 2)
• Fussy Kobayashi: Trumpet (Track 2)
• Hideaki Nakaji: Trombone (Track 2)
• Kazuki Katsuta: Sax (Track 2)
• Shin Kazuhara: Trumpet (Track 10)
• Toshihiko Furumura: Sax (Track 11)
• Maki Ohguro: Chorus (Track 5)
• Shinichi Furukawa: Chorus (Track 9)
• Naoko Iijima: Female Voice (Track 12)
• Shinichiro Ohta: Chorus (Track 14)
• HIIRO Strings: Strings (Tracks 2,5,9)
• Shinozaki Strings: Strings (Track 15)