Steps are a name synonymous with the late 90's and nothing else - and yet here we are with the brand new album, Tears On The Dancefloor! Our intrigue is very much piqued! Lead single Scared of the Dark gave us a taste of what we can expect to come; cheesy dance-pop that is catchy and upbeat. A guilty pleasure for many, let's see what Steps have to offer nearly 20 years down the line from their 90's success.
Here is our expert rating system!
1 - Shouldn't have been recorded
2 - Filler
3 - Above average filler
4 - Killer
5 - Career defining masterpiece
Track 01 - Scared Of The Dark
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 02 - You Make Me Whole
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 03 - Story Of A Heart
John - 1.5/5
Tilly - 1.5/5
Track 04 - Happy
John - 0.5/5
Tilly - 1/5
Track 05 - No More Tears On The Dancefloor
John - 1.5/5
Tilly - 1/5
Track 06 - Firefly
John - 2/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 07 - Space Between Us
John - 2/5
Tilly - 1.5/5
Track 08 - Glitter & Gold
John - 2/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 09 - Neon Blue
John - 1/5
Tilly - 1.5
Track 10 - I Will Love Again
John - 1.5/5
Tilly - 1.5/5
Conclusion
John - The only positive about this was the lead single, Scared of the Dark. A catchy, well-written pop song. However... The rest of the album just blended into one hell of a load of bad pop music. Bland for the most part lyrically and vocally, but I thought the instrumentals would at least redeem Steps somewhat here. They didn't. There were some exceptions, Firefly being one of the rarities. But I certainly won't be listening to anything other than Scared of the Dark again. Having said all of this, I do think Steps are wasted. They are usually good at what they do, and there is one place that what they do would be perfect for: Eurovision. Someone needs to organise this. Eurovision or not though, this album is a drag with few redeeming features.
Overall Score - 1.5/5
Tilly - I think that Steps are in a very difficult position as a group because if they branched out and tried to conform to today's music, they'd probably just be nobodies, so they obviously opted to re-adopt their old sound to try and appeal to their old fanbase, which I think Tears On The Dancefloor very much did. It's camp, it's upbeat, it's pure 90's with a slightly more modern selection of instrumentals, but it's still very much the same Steps. To me however, it does feel dated, it doesn't feel as fun as it thinks it is, and I have no desire to re-listen to any song on this album ever again.
Overall Score - 1.5/5