Steptacular

Steptacular is the second studio album by British pop group Steps, released in the United Kingdom on 25 October 1999, through Jive Records.[1] The album was accompanied by five singles "Tragedy", "Love's Got a Hold on My Heart", "After the Love Has Gone", "Say You'll Be Mine", "Deeper Shade of Blue" and "When I Said Goodbye" all hitting the UK top 5, making Steptacular the first Steps album to contain 6 consecutive UK top 5 hits.

Steptacular
Studio album by Steps
Released	25 October 1999
Recorded	1998–1999
Genre	Pop dance-pop electropop europop disco
Length	55:25
Label	Jive
Producer	Mark Topham Karl Twigg Pete Waterman Andrew Frampton Dan Sanders W.I.P
Steps chronology
Step One (1998) Steptacular (1999) Buzz (2000)
Singles from Steptacular
"Tragedy" Released: 6 November 1998 "Love's Got a Hold on My Heart" Released: 12 July 1999 "After the Love Has Gone" Released: 11 October 1999 "Say You'll Be Mine" Released: 13 December 1999 "Deeper Shade of Blue" Released: 3 April 2000 "When I Said Goodbye" Released: 3 July 2000

Steptacular debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart on Halloween 1999, and it remained on the position for three weeks, selling 260,000 copies in the same time frame.

Background and release

Like the group's debut album, Steptacular also contains covers, including a song originally released by female pop group Bananarama entitled "Movin' On", "Make It Easy On Me" originally recorded by Sybil and "Deeper Shade of Blue" originally recorded by Tina Cousins. The album also includes the group's version of Tragedy, which was originally recorded for the Bee Gees tribute album "Gotta Get A Message To You", which was released shortly after Step One. Early UK copies of the album featured a holographic silver "STEPS" logo on front. It was also released in cardboard and tin boxed sets, internationally.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Yahoo! Music UK	[3]

Commercial performance

On 31 October 1999, the album debuted at number one in the United Kingdom and remained for three consecutive weeks.[4][5][6] The album sold 84,000 units in its first week – only 1,000 copies ahead of Westlife's debut album, Westlife, beating the Irish boy band.

Track listing

Steptacular[7]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Tragedy"	Barry Gibb Robin Gibb Maurice Gibb	Mark Topham Karl Twigg Pete Waterman	4:30
2.	"After the Love Has Gone"	Topham Twigg Lance Ellington	Topham Twigg Waterman	4:35
3.	"Love's Got a Hold on My Heart"	Andrew Frampton Waterman	Frampton Waterman	3:19
4.	"Say You'll Be Mine"	Frampton Waterman	Frampton Waterman	3:33
5.	"I Think It's Love" (Claire solo)	Topham Twigg Ellington	Topham Twigg Waterman	4:28
6.	"Make It Easy on Me" (Lisa solo)	Stock Aitken Waterman Mike Stock Matt Aitken Waterman	Work in Progress	3:34
7.	"Deeper Shade of Blue"	Topham Twigg	Topham Twigg Waterman	4:16
8.	"Movin' On"	Stock Waterman Sara Dallin Keren Woodward	Work in Progress	3:29
9.	"Never Say Never Again"	Frampton Waterman	Frampton Waterman	3:51
10.	"When I Said Goodbye"	Topham Twigg	Topham Twigg Waterman	3:30
11.	"I Surrender"	Topham Twigg	Topham Twigg Waterman	3:42
12.	"Since You Took Your Love Away" (Faye solo)	Frampton Waterman	Frampton Waterman	4:35
13.	"My Best Friend's Girl" (H solo)	Topham Twigg Ellington	Topham Twigg Waterman	3:40
14.	"You're Everything That Matters to Me"	Jackie James	Dan Sanders Waterman	4:23

Canadian bonus tracks[8]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Last Thing on My Mind"	Stock Waterman Dallin Woodward	3:04
16.	"5, 6, 7, 8"	Barry Upton Steve Crosby	3:22

Japanese bonus tracks[9]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Just Like the First Time"	Frampton Waterman	3:28
16.	"One for Sorrow" (Tony Moran's 7-inch remix)	Topham Twigg Ellington	3:30

Australian edition[10]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"After the Love Has Gone"	Mark Topham Karl Twigg Lance Ellington	4:35
2.	"Say You'll Be Mine"	Frampton Waterman	3:33
3.	"Tragedy"	Barry Gibb Robin Gibb Maurice Gibb	4:30
4.	"Love's Got a Hold on My Heart"	Andrew Frampton Pete Waterman	3:19
5.	"I Think It's Love" (Claire solo)	Topham Twigg Ellington	4:28
6.	"Make It Easy on Me" (Lisa solo)	Stock Aitken Waterman Mike Stock Matt Aitken Waterman	3:34
7.	"Deeper Shade of Blue"	Topham Twigg	4:16
8.	"Movin' On"	Stock Waterman Sara Dallin Keren Woodward	3:29
9.	"Never Say Never Again"	Frampton Waterman	3:51
10.	"When I Said Goodbye"	Topham Twigg	3:30
11.	"I Surrender"	Topham Twigg	3:42
12.	"Since You Took Your Love Away" (Faye solo)	Frampton Waterman	4:35
13.	"My Best Friend's Girl" (H solo)	Topham Twigg Ellington	3:40
14.	"You're Everything That Matters to Me"	Jackie James	4:23
15.	"Just Like the First Time"	Frampton Waterman	3:28
16.	"One for Sorrow" (Tony Moran's 7-inch remix)	Topham Twigg Ellington	3:30

Limited edition bonus CD[11][12][13]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"After the Love Has Gone"	4:35
2.	"After the Love Has Gone" (W.I.P. mix)	5:37
3.	"To Be Your Hero"	3:50
4.	"One for Sorrow" (Tony Moran's 7-inch remix)	3:30

Notes

• "Steptacular" was released in Australia with a revised track listing, including two bonus tracks.
• "Steptacular" was released in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan in a boxed set limited edition, containing the UK track list of the album and the CD single for "After the Love Has Gone".

Personnel

Producers: Topham, Twigg & Waterman (for tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11 & 13) Frampton & Waterman (for tracks 2, 4, 9 & 12) Work in Progress (W.I.P) (for tracks 6 & 8) Sanders & Waterman (for track 14) Engineers: Chris McDonnell (for tracks 1, 3, 5, 10 & 11) McDonnell & Tim "Spag" Speight (for tracks 7 & 13) Dan Frampton (for tracks 2, 4, 9 & 12) Paul Waterman (for tracks 6 & 8) Speight & Al Unsworth (for track 14)

Mixing: Tim "Spag" Speight (for tracks 1, 5 & 7) Dan Frampton & Paul Waterman (for track 3) Frampton (for tracks 2, 4, 9, 12 & 14) Waterman (for tracks 6 & 8) Chris McDonnell (for tracks 10, 11 & 13) Backing vocals: Mary Carewe, Mae McKenna, Andrew Frampton, Lance Ellington, Bernadette Barlow Assistant engineers: Al Unsworth & Roe Waterman Photography: Mike Owen Mastered by Richard Dowling at Transfermation All tracks were recorded and mixed at PWL studios in London and Manchester.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (1999) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 25 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 46 Irish Albums (IRMA)[17] 11 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[18] 25 Scottish Albums (OCC)[19] 1 UK Albums (OCC)[20] 1 Year-end charts Chart (1999) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21] 36 UK Albums (OCC)[22] 7 Chart (2000) Position UK Albums (OCC)[23] 45

Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Belgium (BEA)[24] Platinum 50,000^* United Kingdom (BPI)[25] 4× Platinum 1,291,588[26] Summaries Europe (IFPI)[27] Platinum 1,000,000^* ^* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country	Release date	Format	Label	Catalogue
Japan[28]	13 October 1999	Standard edition (CD + bonus tracks)	Jive / AVEX	AVCZ-95126
UK	25 October 1999	Limited Edition/Holographic logo (CD)	Jive / Ebul	0519442
		Standard edition (CD)		051994-2
		Standard edition (cassette)		051994-4
Australia[28]	25 October 1999	Limited edition (CD + collector card and sticker)	Jive / Zomba	051956-2
Netherlands[28]	25 October 1999	Standard edition (CD)	Jive / EBUL	051994-2
Hong Kong[28]	November 1999	Limited edition (2 CD + cardboard boxed set)	ROD	9145-4
Taiwan[28]	November 1999	Limited edition (2 CD + tin boxed set)
Canada[28]	22 February 2000	Standard edition (CD + bonus tracks)	Jive / EBUL	01241-44167-2
Germany[28]	20 March 2000	Standard edition (CD)

References

1. "Steps - Steptacular". Discogs. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
2. Allmusic review
3. Strickland, Andy (21 October 1999). "Yahoo Music UK review". Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
4. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 31 October 1999 – 6 November 1999". Official Charts Company (UK). Retrieved 13 March 2017.
5. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 7 November 1999 – 13 November 1999". Official Charts Company (UK). Retrieved 13 March 2017.
6. "Official Albums Chart Top 100 14 November 1999 – 20 November 1999". Official Charts Company (UK). Retrieved 13 March 2017.
7. "Steptacular by Steps". iTunes Store (UK). Retrieved 13 March 2017.
8. "Steps - Steptacular (Canada Edition)". Discogs. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
9. "Steps - Steptacular (Japanese Edition)". Discogs. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
10. "Steps - Steptacular (Australian Edition)". Discogs. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
11. "Steps - Steptacular (Taiwan Edition)". Discogs. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
12. "Steps - Steptacular (Malaysian Edition)". Discogs. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
13. "Steps - Steptacular (Hong Kong Edition)". Discogs. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
14. "Australiancharts.com – Steps – Steptacular". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
15. "Ultratop.be – Steps – Steptacular" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Steps – Steptacular" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
17. "Irish Charts > Steps". irish-charts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
18. "Oricon Style". Retrieved 8 March 2010.
19. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
21. "Jaaroverzichten 1999". Ultratop. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
22. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1999". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
23. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2000". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
24. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 1999". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
25. "British album certifications – Steps – Seps One". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 September 2011. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Seps One in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
26. Gumble, Daniel (6 March 2017). "Steps confirm comeback album, tour and ABBA-penned new song". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
27. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1999". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
28. "Steptacular release dates, editions, tracks and information" gensteps.co.uk Retrieved 6 March 2010

• "AllMusicGuide". Track listings, formats and chart positions. Retrieved 30 June 2007.