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 1992 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.

Track listing

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 "One for Sorrow" (US Mix) "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

Weekly charts Chart (1998–2000) PeakpositionEuropean Albums Chart14 Japanese Albums (Oricon) 19 Taiwanese Albums (IFPI)IFPI Taiwan - International Top 10 (1998/32) 9

Chart (2024) Peakposition UK Vinyl Albums 6

Year-end charts Chart (1998) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) 35 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 4 UK Albums (OCC) 13 Chart (1999) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 28 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 30 UK Albums (OCC) 16

Certifications

Release history CountryRelease dateFormatLabelCatalogueUnited Kingdom"Release dates, editions, and chart positions of Step One". gensteps.co.uk Retrieved 5 March 201014 September 1998Standard edition (CD)Jive / EBUL015911-2Standard edition (cassette)015911-4Australia14 September 1998Limited edition (CD + Dance routine booklet)Jive / LiberationMUSH33147-2Hong Kong14 September 1998Limited edition (CD + VCD)Rock (HK)ROD-9115Indonesia14 September 1998Standard edition (CD)ZombaZ-CD-0110798Netherlands14 September 1998Jive / EBUL015911-2Japan1 January 1999Jive / AVEXAVCZ-95107Germany2 March 1999Jive / EBULCanada9 July 199901241-44149-2United States8 February 2000Jive01241-41688-4Brazil21 August 200001241-41635-2 Worldwide 23 February 2024 Vinyl

References