B'z The Best Pleasure II

I think this is the best best of. It's better than Pleasure I and Treasure together. Songs like Banzai, Arigato, Giri Giri Chop, Juice, Ring, Yasei No Energy, Ai No Bakudan & It's Showtime!! only are worth the CD. So, if you have a 35$ in your pocket for a CD, and you are a fan of B'z, buy this one, you won't regret it.

This best-of includes the best rock songs from B'z like Juice, Giri Giri Chop, Ultra Soul! The new version of Itsuka No Merry Christmas is so beautiful!

The remarkable thing about B'z in the 90's was the consistent high quality of their many releases. Their 1998 best-ofs, and even "The 'Mixture'" two years later, are thoroughly strong and memorable. Even these are missing a few good singles. Unfortunately, B'z singles became medicore and homogenic after "ultra soul." "BANZAI" and "Ai no BAKUDAN" are enjoyable, but sound similar and don't have the classic appeal of songs like "ZERO." This album contains a mix of good and OK songs. The earlier singles, like the head-banging "juice" are terrific fun to listen to, but songs like "Yasei no ENERGY" have such weak and forgettable tunes that all you'll notice is how cliche they are. So, "Pleasure II" is not as good as the original. Perhaps this is made most obvious by how the album opens unexcitedly with the uninspired ballad "OCEAN," whereas the original started with the eclectic "LOVE PHANTOM." The good thing is, even the worst B'z song is better than the average pop output. This is a decent album by most standards, just not all the songs are up to old B'z quality. The download card is a nice bonus, but I would have preferred all four lives on one DVD.