January 3Jan 3 Author #9 The ultimate collection Boxing day 2001 was a very sad one for Steps fans as the band had anounced they had split. After the group spent much of 2001 strongly dismissing claims of a split, fans were furious and accused the group of capitalising on the success of a host of merchandise released in the lucrative pre-Christmas market. However, it has since come to light that both H and Claire left the group on the last night of the Steps' Gold: Greatest Hits tour, because of their ongoing unhappiness within the group, although Steps' official statement stated that the split was caused by their belief that they should end on a high, while they were at their best and could be remembered for being the best of their kind. For years nobody had any hopes the band would ever come back after this. Then, ‘Steps: Reunion’ premiered on Sky Living on 28 September 2011. Resolving their issues from the past it was time for a serious reunion. This included a big tour and the release of The ultimate collection. The album was released on 10 October 2011 through Sony Music Entertainment. It features Steps' first recording in ten years, a cover of Dancing queen. In its first week the cd debuted at number one in the United Kingdom selling 34.000 copies (current sales are over 338.787 copies). The ultimate collection also reached #1 in Scotland and #13 in Ireland. My personal opinion in this album? Yes, I was really happy with their reunion. Moving on from the past they had everyone in full nostalgia mood. This album? It got them a third #1 but it doesn’t add a lot for me on a personal level. It’s basicly Gold plus their version of Dancing queen as an extra track (which isn’t their best cover in my opinion). Thoughts? Edited January 3Jan 3 by Lee_his_cheeks
January 4Jan 4 I love that album purely because it got them a #1 in that decade. Don’t think any of us saw that happening so was an amazing time!
January 4Jan 4 Author Agreed! Though the material itself wasn’t new (besides DQ). I did enjoy the DVD-version as I finally could play all their videos :heart:
January 5Jan 5 The ultimate collection was the perfect release for that time and it going number 1 was a massive but welcome surprise as from what i remember they kinda snatched that important number 1 at the last minute.
January 7Jan 7 Ive always been disappointed with the cover they went with for the album , id have much prefered if they featured on the front themselves.
January 9Jan 9 Author Yes, the cover was very ‘meh’ if you ask me. I’m going to continue this countdown soon (a bit bussy with work) :) Any predictions?
January 19Jan 19 Author That one has a higher placing then you might expect And yes, I’ll continu this very soon
January 19Jan 19 Author #8 Platinum collection Yes, I have some time left to continue this countdown At #8 we have another Greatest hits, the Platinum Collection. The album was released on 19 August 2022 through Sony Music Entertainment. This release was special as it marks the 25th(!) anniversary of the band since their formation back in 1997. This version includes the groups greatest hits, also from their new material, along with two brand new songs; Hard 2 Forget and The Runner. Though it’s their shortest run in the album chart, together with the Light up the world album, it did bring them some impressive stats! It got Steps another certified album (currently silver, so over 60.000 copies sold) and by getting to #1 it got them the record for the first British mixed-gender group to achieve four number 1 albums in four different decades (on the UK album chart). Who would’ve though they would accomplish that when they released 5,6,7,8? On a global scale it also reached the charts in Scotland (#1), Ireland (#13), Belgium Flanders (#47) and Australia (#78). On a personal note this release isn’t my favorite release by Steps but I’m really happy with the record it brought them. Also, it was (back then) the first Steps release on vinyl also including their recent singles. The let down for me are the new tracks. Hard 2 forget might be my least favorite lead single and I find the Runner okish. Your thoughts? Edited January 19Jan 19 by Lee_his_cheeks
January 22Jan 22 I love the platinum collection as the 2cd offers so much, also love that it got them that long awaited and deserved number 1, would easily be higher on my own countdown.
January 26Jan 26 Author #7 Steptacular Movin’ on with this countdown we have Steps sophomore album ‘Steptacular’. Released in the United Kingdom on 25 October 1999, it was accompanied by five singles. Those singles all hit the UK top 5, making Steptacular the first Steps album to contain six consecutive UK top-five hits (as it also includes their first #1 hit ‘Tragedy’). This album became their first (and only) studio album that reached the top spot. Selling 260.000 in just 3 weeks they definitely took over the UK. Like the group's debut, this album also contains covers, including a song originally released by Bananarama entitled ‘Movin' On’, ‘Make It Easy on Me’ originally recorded by Sybil and ‘Deeper Shade of Blue’ originally recorded by Tina Cousins and ofcourse the group's version of ‘Tragedy’. Fun fact, the song was originally just recorded for the Bee Gees tribute album. Steptacular recently got vinyl treatment for the first time ever in February 2024 and debuted at number 5 on the UK Vinyl Albums Chart. Current sales stand at almost 1.3 million copies since it’s original release. Internationally Steptacular reached the charts in Scotland (#1), Belgium Flanders (#2), Ireland (#11), Australia (#25), Japan (#25) and the Netherlands (#46). This was a step down compared to what their debut album did on a global scale. Personally this is my least favorite studio album. Ofcourse it has glorious singles like ‘Love’s got a hold on my heart’. On the other hand.. some of the album tracks are a bit boring and the album on a whole sounds a bit dated. Still, it brought them a lot of succes in the UK and cemented them as one of the biggest pop acts back then so I’m not that mad about this release. Your thoughts? Edited January 26Jan 26 by Lee_his_cheeks
