Coquillage: The Best Collection II
Coquillage: The Best Collection II (stylised as Coquillage～The Best Collection II～) is Kokia's second greatest hits album, released on December 2, 2009. Background. The album features material from her first album released under Anco&co management, "", in 2006, up to her digital single , released in August 2009. It follows her first greatest hits album, "", by four years. The album was released after two of Kokia's "Life Trilogy" digital singles, in August 2009, and in November 2009. None of the billed A-sides on these singles feature on the album (these were intended for  Kokia's 11th studio album, "Real World", in 2010), however one of the B-sides made it onto the album, Kokia's cover of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" from "Kimi o Sagashite/Last Love Song." Conception. Kokia selected songs for the album with the concept of songs that can "cleaning your heart." She decided the title would be the French word for shell, coquillage, for several reasons. Firstly, it is a pun on her name ('coquillage' sounding like 'Kokia') Secondly, it is thematically related to her first greatest hits album, "", since pearls are formed within mollusc shells . Kokia chose the album art to feature Sandro Botticelli's 1486 painting "The Birth of Venus" due to Venus due to the shell Venus stands on. Kokia chose at least one song from every original album release to feature on the album, along with four rarities/B-sides and two new recordings. "Atatakai Basho" and "Nukumori (Aigakikoeru)" are originally from "" (2006), however the strings version was a special version recorded for Kokia's film Ojiisan no Tulip and released on her 2008 digital download EP rarities EP "Love Tears". "Ave Maria," "Chiisa na Uta" and "Everlasting" are from "The Voice  (2008). Say Goodbye & Good Day," which appeared as the B-side to the lead single from "The Voice", "Follow the Nightingale," and as a bonus track on the French version of the album also features on "Coquillage". "Song of Pocchong (Shizuku no Uta)" was sourced from "" (2008), and "Kokoro no Rōsoku" from "Christmas Gift" (2008). Two songs each from Kokia's 2009 albums were picked: "Dōke" and "Kono Mune no Kurushimi ga Itooshii Hodo ni Ikite" from "", and the acoustic version of "Infinity" from "", along with "Sekai no Owari ni." "Candle in the Heart," the English version of "Kokoro no  Rōsoku," was originally from Kokia's free release EP given out on the street of New York in 2008. "What a Wonderful World" came from Kokia's digital single "Kimi o Sagashite/Last Love Song" in August 2009. Of the new recordings, "Inori" is a self-cover of the song "" that Kokia wrote/produced for Ayahi Takagaki comes across Feldt Grace, a character single for Mobile Suit Gundam 00. "Arigatō..." (originally released as a single in 1999 and re-recorded three times previously) is a new acoustic guitar version of the song. Promotion. In December after the album's release , Kokia held a six date tour in Japan, . Reception. The album charted for two days in Oricon's top 50 daily singles chart, as #27 and #48, before dropping off completely. In the first week, the album reached #73 and sold 2,100 copies, significantly lower than Kokia's original albums released under Anco&co. The album charted for a single more week at #250, selling a total of 2,700 copies. Track listing. All songs written and produced by Kokia, except for "Ave Maria" (Vladimir Vavilov) and "What a Wonderful World" (Bob Thiele, George David Weiss).