Gold: Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album released by British pop group Steps. It was released in 2001 and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. The lead single from the album was "Chain Reaction", a cover of the Diana Ross hit; the Steps' version reached number 2 in the UK Singles chart and was the group's highest selling single since "Say You'll Be Mine/Better The Devil You Know". The second single from the album, the slow ballad "Words Are Not Enough", was released with a cover of "I Know Him So Well", from ABBAmania. The single was notably Steps' first single to have an accompanying video that was almost fully animated and did not feature a dance routine like their video for "Heartbeat". The single reached number 5 in the UK charts and was their lowest-selling single to date. A release for "Baby Don't Dance" was planned for 2002 but was scrapped due to the group's split although promotional copies surfaced before the release of The Last Dance.[4]
| Gold: Greatest Hits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 15 October 2001 (EU) | |||
| Recorded | 1997–2001 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 75:08 | |||
| Label | Jive | |||
| Producer |
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| Steps chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Gold: Greatest Hits | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| NME |   [2] |
| RTÉ Entertainment | [3] |
Background and release
editSteps announced the release of their greatest hits album in May 2001. Shortly after, rumours started surfacing that the group would be splitting up following the release, although these rumours were continuously denied by the group during TV shows and interviews. While discussing the rumours during an interview with whereitsat.tv, band member Lisa Scott-Lee stated "I've got to be honest when I was growing up and I had a lot of my favourite bands bring out greatest hits I thought that, that was the end and "That's their final album" and I'm sure a lot of kids think that and a lot of other people but it's not the case we've actually got lots more albums in the pipeline, we're actually song writing right now for the greatest hits and the fourth album after that, so you know we haven't actually discussed splitting up so I don't see why other people should".
The album was released on 15 October 2001 in the UK.
Composition
editGold: Greatest Hits consists of all the singles that Steps released, except for "You'll Be Sorry". It is notable that the single was not included on the compilation, although "Here and Now" was included. Four new tracks including "Chain Reaction" were featured on the album. A song called "Only in My Dreams" was written by the five members of the group with long-time collaborator Frampton, and was the only song from the album not to be released as a single or to be performed live.
The US version was released under the name The Best of Steps. The version of "One for Sorrow" on this album is the original mix, not the US Mix. The US version of the album features three singles that were not released in the US—"Better Best Forgotten", "Chain Reaction", and "Words Are Not Enough". This version of the album did not include all of Steps' singles.
Commercial performance
editTwo weeks after the album was released it reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and spent two weeks at the top of the chart. It has sold over a million copies, giving the album a certification of x4 Platinum.
Tour
editTo support the release of the album the group embarked on their fifth concert tour (Gold Tour) on 24 November 2001. The tour ended on 22 December 2001 and it was revealed on the TV show Steps Reunion that band members H and Claire had announced their resignation to the rest of the group two hours before going on stage for the last show. Lisa and Faye stated that the concert was difficult to perform, while Lee said that he felt the concert cheated the audience.
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tragedy" (from Steptacular) | Bee Gees | 4:30 |
| 2. | "One for Sorrow" (from Step One) |
| 4:21 |
| 3. | "Stomp" (from Buzz) |
| 3:21 |
| 4. | "Better Best Forgotten" (Radio edit, UK track, from Step One) |
| 3:42 |
| 5. | "Love's Got a Hold on My Heart" (from Steptacular) |
| 3:19 |
| 6. | "Deeper Shade of Blue" (Radio edit, from Steptacular) |
| 3:44 |
| 7. | "Last Thing on My Mind" (from Step One) |
| 3:04 |
| 8. | "Better the Devil You Know" (UK track, from Buzz) |
| 3:48 |
| 9. | "Summer of Love" (from Buzz) |
| 3:51 |
| 10. | "5,6,7,8" (from Step One) |
| 3:21 |
| 11. | "Chain Reaction" | Bee Gees | 3:56 |
| 12. | "Baby Don't Dance" |
| 3:50 |
| 13. | "It's the Way You Make Me Feel" (from Buzz) | Jörgen Elofsson | 3:16 |
| 14. | "After the Love Has Gone" (from Steptacular) |
| 4:34 |
| 15. | "Here and Now" (Q-Street Mix, UK track, from Buzz) |
| 3:26 |
| 16. | "Say You'll Be Mine" (from Steptacular) |
| 3:31 |
| 17. | "Only In My Dreams" | 4:16 | |
| 18. | "Words Are Not Enough" |
| 3:23 |
| 19. | "When I Said Goodbye" (UK track, Single version from Steptacular) |
| 3:32 |
| 20. | "Heartbeat" (UK track, from Step One) | Jackie James | 4:23 |
| Total length: | 75:08 | ||
US release
editGold: Greatest Hits was released in 2002 in the United States as Best of Steps.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tragedy" | 4:30 |
| 2. | "One for Sorrow" | 4:21 |
| 3. | "Stomp" | 3:21 |
| 4. | "It's the Way You Make Me Feel" | 3:16 |
| 5. | "Love's Got a Hold on My Heart" | 3:19 |
| 6. | "Heartbeat" | 4:23 |
| 7. | "Better Best Forgotten" | 3:42 |
| 8. | "Say You'll Be Mine" | 3:31 |
| 9. | "Deeper Shade of Blue" | 3:44 |
| 10. | "5,6,7,8" | 3:21 |
| 11. | "Last Thing on My Mind" | 3:04 |
| 12. | "Chain Reaction" | 3:56 |
| 13. | "Words Are Not Enough" | 3:23 |
Digital
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 21. | "You'll Be Sorry (The Pardon Mix)" | 3:31 |
| 22. | "I Know Him So Well" | 4:15 |
| 23. | "Merry Xmas Everybody" | 3:08 |
| 24. | "W.I.P. Megamix" | 7:19 |
Charts
editWeekly charts
edit| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart (ARIA)[6] | 155 |
| Irish Albums Chart[7] | 1 |
| Japanese Albums Chart[8] | 92 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart[9] | 17 |
| UK Albums Chart[10] | 1 |
Year-end charts
edit| Chart (2001) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart[11] | 6 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[13] | 4× Platinum | 1,129,620[12] |
References
edit- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ "Music & Film Reviews - NME.COM". NME. 12 September 2005.
- ^ "Entertainment - News, Reviews, Listings & Features - RTÉ". RTÉ.ie.
- ^ "Generation STEPS - STEPS Baby Don't Dance - STEPS Discography".
- ^ "Gold: Greatest Hits". Apple Music (UK Store). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
- ^ "ARIA chart history 1988 to 2022, received from ARIA in 2022". ARIA. Retrieved 2 December 2023 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "irishcharts.com - Discography Steps".
- ^ "Homepage". Retrieved 8 March 2010.[not specific enough to verify]
- ^ "New Zealand Charts > Steps". charts.nz Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
- ^ "The Official Charts Company > Steps". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 November 2008.
- ^ 2001 in British music#Top 40 Singles
- ^ Gumble, Daniel (6 March 2017). "Steps confirm comeback album, tour and ABBA-penned new song". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- ^ "British album certifications – Steps – Gold: Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 July 2022.