I think YBS is quite sophisticated sounding for a Steps 2001 single.

i remember being SO mad that 'You'll Be Sorry' was so H-heavy when I was younger, he used to grate on me even back then.

it's sad to think that he only started to get more solo's as the group went on because he was in a secret relationship with their manager... nothing like sleeping your way to the top!

 

 

Now I'm by no means a H fan, he is my least fave out of the group, but that is a bit unfair really. He had solos right from the first album. Too weak to resist and Experienced are both pretty much H solo tracks with backing vocals from the others on Step One. He also had another pretty much solo track on Steptacular with My Best Friends Girl, and then he had solo parts on Deeper shade of blue and When I said goodbye. He only had the same amount of solo parts on Buzz and Gold as he did on the first two albums...

Now I'm by no means a H fan, he is my least fave out of the group, but that is a bit unfair really. He had solos right from the first album. Too weak to resist and Experienced are both pretty much H solo tracks with backing vocals from the others on Step One. He also had another pretty much solo track on Steptacular with My Best Friends Girl, and then he had solo parts on Deeper shade of blue and When I said goodbye. He only had the same amount of solo parts on Buzz and Gold as he did on the first two albums...

 

it's not an opinion - it's the truth. it's heavily noted in claire's autobiography & was talked about in Steps Reunion. in claire's book she actually says the line "H started getting more lines because of his relationship with Tim".

 

solo tracks on albums is nowhere near the same - lee had solo's on the albums too. the singles formula went from faye (verse one) > claire (verse two + ad-libs) > lisa (middle eight) to incorporating much more H & it's 'cause he was screwin' the boss.

 

 

You'll be sorry is one of their least memorable for me,it's nice but forgettable.

Would’ve preferred Happy Go Lucky/Paradise Lost as a double release over Here Abd Now/You’ll Be Sorry.

 

The former are at least both solid 10’s.

#16. Here And Now | 7.466

Highest Scores: 11: (Rossco), 10: (Aaron, Stepsrcwl, Spiceboy, Jonjo), Lowest Scores: 2.5: (dandy)

At #16 is the other side of the song below it, 'Here And Now' which was released in May 2001 as the final single from their 3rd album 'Buzz' alongside ;YBS' of course and peaked at #4 on the UK charts, becoming their 12th top 5 hit and 13th top 10 hit overall and despite being yet another success for them, it's their 2nd lowest seller during their 97-01 period after 'Words Are Not Enough'. Not many people know this but this song is actually a cover, originally sung by boyband World's Apart and was recorded back in 2000, but was never given a worldwide release as far as I know. This song was re-recorded for it's single release just like it's counterpart called the Q-Street mix, which gives it a much better and more polished sound. This definitely stands as one of their more mature numbers, but still very much Steps and while this may not be one of their strongest or better singles, it's still a pretty fun time. Funnily enough for it's worldwide release 'YBS' wasn't released alongside it, instead 'Summer Of Love' was released, which sadly didn't make much impact peaking at a mere #71 in Australia, showing that despite still being massively successful in the UK, their worldwide popularity had waned.

Australia got H&N/YBS, I remember picking up the cds of it.

Here and Now was catchy and more organic than you'll be sorry.

That fashion and those videos :o

 

Also it's really interesting seeing it become the H show. I never picked up on that before. Crazy how little focus Claire has in some of these too given that H&Claire was probably on the cards already around this time!

You’ll Be Sorry should be higher. Amazing dance track. Even if it is heavy on the H haha

Everything about the styling of the Buzz era was so dire, Steps lost focus with their branding, image and direction completely :lol:

 

It's The Way You Make Me Feel excepted of course as period costume never goes out of style.

 

I never really loved either of those songs but You'll Be Sorry is better, Here And Now is melodic but I never go back to it, considering it has much glossier production than their older singles, it always felt a bit hollow and charmless somehow.

You can see/hear how Here and Now translated to the H&Claire ‘sound’.

 

You’ll Be Sorry is the best steps track imo. Love the heavier dance sound to it.

I am really enjoying this countdown and discussion, thanks for putting the effort in to run it!

H and Claire I remember really badly. Even looking them up again on spotify, nothing really rings a bell. What were they thinking?? Were H and Claire obviously seen as the 'leads' back when Steps were at their biggest? I don't remember...

#15. Heartbeat | 7.483

Highest Scores: 11: (Lukuzz, Chapman), 10: (Simon, Hide&Seek), Lowest Scores: 2: (dandy)

At #15 is the last of the Steps ballads to feature here 'Heartbeat', and funnily enough their first ballad released as a single also. Released in November 1998 as the 4th single from their debut album 'Step One', as a double a-side alongside the much more well known 'Tragedy' (which didn't feature on the album). This is also their first chart topper, although I do think that most of those sales were for the other song, which I will talk about later. But for now I'm gonna talk about this which I do feel gets very much overshadowed and ignored when compared to you know what, however on it's own it's a really nice song that's sung well and surprisingly quite grown up. Plus I love the festive feel that this song has, it really gets you in the mood for Christmas as well as the video (which has to be their most cheesiest), with the terrible green screen skiing shots and deranged kidnapping dwarfs and Faye's questionable dreadlocks all of which makes for a fun camp time.

Another note YES this is a million seller, okay that's mainly down to the other song as well as it's rise to the #1 spot, but honestly if this was released on it's own then I do think it would have been successful and during the '98 X-Mas period it could have easily pulled of sales of 400,000-500,000 and still had it's original #2 peak.

Heartbeat is a good song. That said it fell down for me as Tragedy was excellent and Heartbeat felt like a poor attachment to me as the double a side of the single.

Results So Far 15-28 =

15. Heartbeat - 7.483
16. Here and Now - 7.466
17. You’ll Be Sorry - 7.066
18. After the Love Has Gone - 7.033
19. 5,6,7,8 - 6.55
20. Better the Devil You Know - 6.333
21. One for Sorrow (US Mix) - 6.214
22. Dancing with A Broken Heart - 6.083
23. When I Said Goodbye - 5.533
24. Words Are Not Enough - 5.516
25. I Know Him So Well - 5.4
26. Light Up the World - 5.017
27. Thank ABBA for The Music (Ft Various) - 4.733
28. Too Busy Thinking About My Baby - 4.316

For anyone whose interested here are the results from the 2011 Rate =

1. One For Sorrow – 8.76
2. It's The Way You Make Me Feel - 8.69
3. Deeper Shade Of Blue – 8.27
4. Last Thing On My Mind – 7.76
5. Love's Got A Hold On My Heart – 7.54
6. Chain Reaction – 7.49
7. Summer Of Love – 7.44
8. Say You'll Be Mine – 7.37
9. Tragedy – 7.25
10. Stomp – 7.24
11. After The Love Has Gone – 7.20
12. Better Best Forgotten - 7.13
13. Here And Now – 7.08
14. You'll Be Sorry - 6.98
15. Heartbeat – 6.86
16. Better The Devil You Know - 6.5
17. 5,6,7,8 – 5.89
18. One For Sorrow (2001/Tony Moran US mix) – 5.78
19. Words Are Not Enough – 5.57
20. Thank Abba For The Music – 5.31
21. I Know Him So Well – 5.13
22. When I Said Goodbye - 5.03
23. Too Busy Thinking About My Baby – 3.53

Oh stop why is Heartbeat so low :o

 

ATLHG I loved back in the day, I find it a bit loud now and screechy :unsure:

Adore 'Heartbeat', it reminds me fondly of Christmas 1998. :wub:

So to this stage last time almost exactly the same songs in the same order had gone out, minus Dancing with a Broken Heart and Light Up the World, of course. Interesting!

 

I'm surprised at last time's winner though.

#14. Story Of A Heart | 7.566

Highest Scores: 10: (Rossco, Lukuzz, PAJ88, gooddelta), Lowest Scores: 2: (Tawdry Hepburn)

At #14 we finally lose another of their comeback releases, 'Story Of A Heart', which featured on their 5th studio album 'Tears On The Dancefloor' and released as the 2nd single, firstly in a remix EP known as the 7th Heaven mix in May, then a radio release in June 2017. The song is a cover co-written by Benny & Bjorn (formally of ABBA fame) and recorded by the 'Benny Anderson's Band' with vocals by Swedish singer Helen Sjoholm, and released back in 2009 and peaked at #17 on the Swedish charts. This was a good choice for Steps to cover given the many ABBA comparisons they've had in their early years, and even covered quite a few of their songs as well, making this quite a fitting choice and plus not many people would know the original version anyway and Steps would do a pretty fine job of it, giving the song a more modern pop twist feel that makes this the perfect follow up to the already classic 'SCTD'. The video itself is a nice love letter to the fans, mainly just them reminiscing about the last 20 years, which fits the song really well. Finally I must say that the vocals from the 3 girls Claire, Faye & Lisa each sounding beautiful without trying to outshine each other which is really refreshing and all of which makes for a well crafted pop song that's a welcome addition to their discography.