Read a review of Buzz by Channel 4 Text HERE!
Read a review of Buzz by David Boldra HERE!
Steptro - Even though this is not really a proper song, I love it!!! It makes a great start to Last Thing On My Mind and Step One. It would have been good to to it on Steptacular and change the words to 'Love's Got A Hold On My Heart' and have Love's Got A Hold On My Heart following on. Cool intro! 10/10.
Last Thing On My Mind - Just missed out on the UK top 5, but a great song nevertheless and would have made a good summer tune. Shame Verse 3 was the same as Verse 1, though. Great if you fancy a dance! 10/10.
5,6,7,8 - STEPS first single and if STEPS were known to the public before 5,6,7,8, it could have been a UK number 1 aswell as #1 in Australia and Belgium but 14 is still good! This single goes with a line-dancing theme, which might not be to everyone's taste but it grows and grows on you and you can't help loving it! Lee did a good job on the lead vocals, but we haven't had much singing from him since then. A very catchy tune which deserves good credit. 9/10.
One For Sorrow - Probably THE summer song of 1998; catchy tune, easy dance, brilliant vocals from Claire, even better video - this song had it all and just missed out as the UK's number 1. It just shows the immense vocal talent of the group and is one of my favourite songs ever!10/10.
Heartbeat - I wasn't over-struck on this song when I first heard it on TOTP, but it is another song that grows on you. It again shows a wide vocal range from the girls. It was the groups first UK number 1! Yeah! But if I was being realtistic, I would have to say that it was not down to this song that the double A-side with the BeeGees' classic, Tragedy, went to #1. Great song though and proves STEPS can not only do great dancey songs, but nice slow ballads aswell. 9/10.
This Heart Will Love Again - One of my favourite STEPS 'non-single' songs and I am glad that it is just an album track and was not released as a single because I don't think it would have done very well and it seems the sort of song that would prove difficult to remix, like Say You'll Be Mine from Steptacular. I do love the bridge and chorus though, and I think it's great! 9/10.
Experienced - This has to be the worst STEPS song written and has not acheived good reviews. I do not like the heavy breathing and the ending where the chorus is sung about 5000 times - it is very poor - the song starts to finish after only 1.36 has elasped which says that the song is so bad that no additional lyrics could have been written! It does not gradually make you like it and an extra voice (Lee?) coming in on 2 words or so at a time sounds dreadful. They have tried to make it sound a little more exciting, with a nice little drum section lasting about 5 seconds at one point and the chorus slowing down at the very end to make it sound more ending-y. It should not have been included on the album and deserves a maximum of B-side status. Oh dear. 2/10.
Too Weak Too Resist - Not one of the best STEPS songs, but it is not bad. The chorus is sung too many times at the end and fades which sounds better than Experienced. H's voice, though, sounds good and has matured a lot since then. It does not seem, however, to go much with One For Sorrow and I'm not sure why it was selected as the One For Sorrow single's B-side. 7/10.
Better Best Forgotten - What can I say? My all time fave from Step One. I cannot get enough of it!! Brilliant dance, the W.I.P. '99 Cream Of Manchester Mix blows you away it is so good! Great video. Dancing to this is cool and so were the costumes, TV performances... 10/10.
Back To You - Not too sure on this one. Not bad when you get into it. Good bridge, though. Chorus OK. I don't know about the line 'Everything reminds me of you' what about murderers and stuff? 8/10.
Love U More - I love the dance that STEPS did on STEPS - The Video. It is a great song and it is a shame that we have not heard of the writers since Love U More (Holm/Carnell.) I hope they make an appearance on STEPS 3rd album. 9/10.
Stay With Me - I like this song and it rounds off Step One very well. Lisa's voice sounds very good and hopefully we will be hearing more of her later on as STEPS progress. A nice slow ballad, again showing STEPS wide range of capability in up-tempo and slower songs. Good lyrics too, and I hope we shall be able to hear more from the Lange/Joiner/Mitman team later on in STEPS. Good end to the song and the entire album. 9/10.
OVERALL
Step One is an excellent album an did extremely well to get to number 2. There is the odd song which does let it down, but nearly every single song is very good and it is not just the same music all the time. The album has a wide range of fast songs and slower ballads with some mid-tempo songs here and there, and I would say that it is these medium-speed songs that let the album down a little. Every STEPS fan should have Step One in their CD's collection (and non-STEPS fans aswell) as this album is by no means a dissapointment and I could recomend it to you!
OVERALL SCORE........................................9/10
Read reviews of 'Steptacular'
Read reviews of 'Buzz'
Read reviews of 'Gold'
