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 the 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.

The album contains some covers; "Last Thing on My Mind" was originally released in the 1980s as a single by British girl 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 a Bee Gees tribute album, was paired with "Heartbeat" as a winter holiday double A-side single (included on the group's second album, Steptacular), but is also featured as a bonus track on some international editions of this album.

The album was reissued on vinyl for the first time ever in February 2024. It debuted at number 6 on the UK Vinyl Albums Chart.

American release
Steps’ North American debut album, released in 2000, was also (somewhat confusingly) titled Step One, yet it features a different song selection than their original album of the same name. At just eleven tracks, the American edition is primarily made-up of the group’s “standout” singles, selected from both their debut album (Step One) and their second album (Steptacular).

“Better Best Forgotten" was not included and replaced with the album track “Stay with Me”. The American release essentially a "best-of" collection for the first two years of Steps’ career, 1998 through 2000. The American edition also utilises the cover artwork from their original second album, Steptacular. The original mix of "One for Sorrow" was omitted in-favour of Tony Moran’s remix, the same version to receive airplay on American radio.


 * 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.