Step One

Step One is the debut album by British pop group Steps. It was released in the UK and Europe on 14 September 1998. The album charted at number two on UK Albums Chart upon its release, going on to spend 64 weeks in the chart. It was beaten to number one by This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours by Manic Street Preachers, who also beat Steps' single "One for Sorrow" to number one on the UK Singles Chart with the song "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next". In February 2000, the album was re-released in the US, containing songs from both Step One and its successor, Steptacular. The tracks "5,6,7,8", "Last Thing on My Mind", "One for Sorrow", "Heartbeat" and "Better Best Forgotten" were released as the singles in UK. In 2000, the album was certified 5× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry, and has sold over 1.4 million copies in the UK.[4]

Step One
Studio album by Steps
Released	14 September 1998
Recorded	1997–1998
Genre	Pop dance-pop techno-pop disco
Length	39:08
Label	Jive
Producer	Mark Topham Karl Twigg Pete Waterman Andrew Frampton Dan Sanders W.I.P
Steps chronology
Step One (1998) Steptacular (1999)
Singles from Step One
"5,6,7,8" Released: 17 November 1997 "Last Thing on My Mind" Released: 17 April 1998 "One for Sorrow" Released: 31 August 1998 "Heartbeat" Released: 6 November 1998 "Better Best Forgotten" Released: 8 March 1999

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Answers.com	[2]
DooYoo.co.uk	[3]

The album contains some covers—"Last Thing on My Mind" was originally released as a single by female pop group Bananarama, while "Love U More" was originally recorded by techno/house band Sunscreem, "Experienced" was originally recorded by boybands The Bario Boys & Worlds Apart and "Stay With Me" appears on Romeo's Daughters' self-titled début album.

"Tragedy", which was recorded for the Bee Gees tribute album, was paired up with "Heartbeat" as a double A-side single and released on the next album, Steptacular, but is also featured as a bonus track on some international editions of this album.

Track listing

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Steptro"	Mike Stock Pete Waterman Sara Dallin Keren Woodward	Mark Topham Karl Twigg Waterman	0:56
2.	"Last Thing on My Mind"	Stock Waterman Dallin Woodward	Topham Twigg Waterman	3:04
3.	"5,6,7,8"	Barry Upton Steve Crosby	Topham Twigg Waterman	3:22
4.	"One for Sorrow"	Topham Twigg Lance Ellington	Topham Twigg Waterman	4:20
5.	"Heartbeat"	Jackie James	Andrew Frampton Waterman	4:24
6.	"This Heart Will Love Again"	Frampton Waterman	Dan Sanders Frampton Waterman	3:48
7.	"Experienced" (H solo)	Stock Waterman	Frampton Waterman	3:27
8.	"Too Weak to Resist" (H solo)	Frampton Waterman	Frampton Waterman	3:50
9.	"Better Best Forgotten"	Frampton Waterman	Topham Twigg Waterman	3:42
10.	"Back to You"	Topham Twigg	Topham Twigg Waterman	4:04
11.	"Love U More"	Lucia Holm Paul Cannell	Work in Progress	3:57
12.	"Stay with Me"	Olga Lange Craig Joiner Anthony Mitman Leigh Matty	Sanders Waterman	4:04

Australian bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"One for Sorrow" (W.I.P. remix)	Topham Twigg Ellington Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus	Topham Twigg Waterman W.I.P.	6:53
14.	"Tragedy" (Hidden track)	Barry Gibb Robin Gibb Maurice Gibb	Topham Twigg Waterman	4:30

Japanese bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
13.	"Tragedy"	B. Gibb R. Gibb M. Gibb	Topham Twigg Waterman
14.	"5,6,7,8" (W.I.P. remix)	Upton Crosby	Topham Twigg Waterman W.I.P.
15.	"One for Sorrow" (W.I.P. remix)	Topham Twigg Ellington Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus	Topham Twigg Waterman W.I.P.
16.	"Better Best Forgotten" (W.I.P. remix)	Frampton Waterman	Topham Twigg Waterman W.I.P.

American release

The United States version included several tracks from Steptacular, and "Better the Devil You Know", while omitting most of the album-only tracks from the UK version of Step One. In this respect, it essentially serves as a Steps "best of" compilation for their UK releases through to "Deeper Shade of Blue". The U.S. Version also has the cover from the Steptacular album.

Notably, "Better Best Forgotten" was not included on this version, while the UK version of "One for Sorrow" was omitted to include Tony Moran's remixed track.

Standard edition

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Tragedy"	4:30
2.	"Say You'll Be Mine"	3:33
3.	"One for Sorrow" (U.S. Mix)	3:30
4.	"Last Thing on My Mind"	3:05
5.	"5, 6, 7, 8"	3:23
6.	"Stay with Me"	4:05
7.	"Love's Got a Hold on My Heart"	3:20
8.	"After the Love Has Gone"	4:35
9.	"Heartbeat"	4:25
10.	"Deeper Shade of Blue"	4:16
11.	"Better the Devil You Know"

US singles

1. "One for Sorrow" (US Mix)
2. "Tragedy"

Personnel

Producers: Topham, Twigg and Waterman (for tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 13) Frampton and Waterman (for tracks 5, 7 and 8) Sanders, Frampton and Waterman (for track 6) Work in Progress (W.I.P) (for tracks 11 and 13) Sanders and Waterman (for track 12) Engineers: Chris McDonnell (for tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 and 13) Dan Frampton (for tracks 5 and 7) McDonnell and Frampton (for track 8 and 9) Jason Barron, Martin Neary and Frampton (for track 6) Paul Waterman (for track 11) Barron (for track 12)

Mixing: Work in Progress (W.I.P) (for track 1) Les Sharma (for track 3) Paul Waterman (for tracks 2, 11 and 12) Waterman and Dan Frampton (for 4, 5, 6 and 10) Frampton (for tracks 7, 8 and 9) Work in Progress (W.I.P) (for track 13) Assistant engineers: Bradlee/Al and Pete All tracks were recorded and mixed at the PWL Studios in London and Manchester.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (1998–2000) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[5] 5 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[6] 1 Dutch Albums Chart[7] 33 Irish Albums Chart[8] 8 Japanese Albums Chart[9] 19 New Zealand Albums Chart[10] 6 Swedish Albums Chart[11] 46 Taiwanese Albums Chart[12] 9 UK Albums Chart[13] 2 US Billboard 200[14] 79

Year-end charts Chart (1998) Position Australian Albums Chart[15] 35 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[16] 4 Chart (1999) Position New Zealand Albums Chart[17] 30 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA)[18] Platinum 70,000^^ Belgium (BEA)[19] 2× Platinum 100,000^* Japan (RIAJ)[20] Gold[21] 100,000^^ New Zealand (RMNZ)[22] Platinum 15,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[23] 5× Platinum 1,402,303[4] United States (RIAA)[24] N/A 200,000[25] Summaries Europe (IFPI)[26] Platinum 1,000,000^* Worldwide — 2,500,000[27] ^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country	Release date	Format	Label	Catalogue
United Kingdom[28]	14 September 1998	Standard edition (CD)	Jive / EBUL	015911-2
		Standard edition (cassette)		015911-4
Australia[28]	14 September 1998	Limited edition (CD + Dance routine booklet)	Jive / Liberation	MUSH33147-2
Hong Kong[28]	14 September 1998	Limited edition (CD + VCD)	Rock (HK)	ROD-9115
Indonesia[28]	14 September 1998	Standard edition (CD)	Zomba	Z-CD-0110798
Netherlands[28]	14 September 1998		Jive / EBUL	015911-2
Japan[28]	1 January 1999		Jive / AVEX	AVCZ-95107
Germany[28]	2 March 1999		Jive / EBUL
Canada[28]	9 July 1999			01241-44149-2
United States[28]	8 February 2000		Jive	01241-41688-4
Brazil[28]	21 August 2000			01241-41635-2

References

1. AllMusic review
2. Answers.com review
3. DooYoo.co.uk review
4. Gumble, Daniel (6 March 2017). "Steps confirm comeback album, tour and ABBA-penned new song". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
5. "Australian Charts > Steps". australian-charts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
6. "Belgian Charts > Steps". ultratop.be Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
7. "Dutch Album Chart > Steps". dutchcharts.nl Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
8. http://irish-charts.com/. Retrieved 8 March 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
9. http://www.oricon.co.jp/. Retrieved 8 March 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
10. "New Zealand Charts > Steps". charts.nz Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
11. "Swedish Charts > Steps". swedishcharts.com Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
12. IFPI Taiwan - International Top 10 (1998/32)
13. "The Official Charts Company > Steps". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
14. "Steps Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
15. "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 1998". Aria.com.au. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
16. "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
17. "Top Selling Albums of 1999". The Official New Zealand Music Chart. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
18. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1998 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
19. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 1998". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
20. "Japanese album certifications – Steps – Seps One" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
21. "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1999年3月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. March 1999 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan. 474: 9. 10 May 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
22. "Top 50 Albums Chart, 11 April 1999". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
23. "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.
24. "American album certifications – Steps – Seps One". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
25. UK Pop Acts Have To Speak New Language. Billboard. 19 May 2001. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
26. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1999". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
27. "The Secret of Jive's Success". Billboard. 30 October 1999.
28. "Release dates, editions, and chart positions of Step One". gensteps.co.uk Retrieved 5 March 2010