It is kind of one of those songs where you're half-way through the chorus before you even realise it's the chorus. Such a good song.
I actually think Love's Got A Hold is their weakest single and it only did as well cause it was new and the buzz was huge. The definition of 'has it all, yet doesn't work' track. Sue me.
I think Loves Got A Hold On My Heart was genius for it's time. Full of drama, huge vox from Claire, great music video... a great tune. But, nowadays, I don't think that sound would work... way to plastic and cheesy... I love the cheese but they've made the right choice in moving the sound on a bit.
I still love Say You'll Be Mine. The video is kind of terrible in parts and yet I love it in all its 90s cheesiness.
This was partly their own fault for chucking out their new single at £3.99 first week, whereas they'd always gone for £1.99 for all the Step One singles. They cockblocked themselves.
Love's Got A Hold On My Heart was brilliant, but did move their sound on a bit for sure. Wasn't it written in 1992 or something? It has a bit of a Kylie vibe I think, but elevated obviously by Claire and Faye's vocals. It was really able to ride on the back of the success of Step One though, I mean even as the final single from their debut, Better Best Forgotten was pretty huge from what I can remember, despite the hilariously cheap video. I think SOME of the general public checked out between Love's Got A Hold On My Heart and After The Love Has Gone, though I remember many casuals being there for Say You'll Be Mine/Better The Devil You Know. By the time Deeper Shade of Blue came around I think they were relying on their (very solid) core fanbase, which perhaps is why they were getting more #4's and #5's than #2's by then, except the crossover singles like "It's The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Chain Reaction". Imagine if "Scared of the Dark" followed by "Story of a Heart" had been released in 2002! What would the reaction have been? Would the public have been fatigued by them do we think? Obviously "Words Are Not Enough" was weak AF and was their lowest-seller, but I think coming back with a disco banger would have given them one final big era.
I think they still had a fair amount of steam left in them to carry on back in the day. It really does depend on what the new songs sounded like tbh... as much as they say nothing else was recorded, I still think that is BS and there was much more planned than what they let on. They were writing for album 4 in 2001 according to Lisa in interviews but I guess we'll never truly know what musically the plan was.
I’m bored so I’ve been Shania-OMG Up! some of their songs. I can only find two of theirs with brackets. Baby Don’t Dance (Boom! Bang! Boom! Boom!) Never Get Over You (Start It Again) (Never Be) Scared of the Dark I’ve forgotten all the good ones I came up with, so help me out.
I was just listening to Gold and it's amazing how good all those songs are! I also realized again how incredible Here And Now is. Not that I forgot (I always liked it) but sometimes when you did not hear it for a while it suddenly becomes better than you remembered. On Gold it's right after Here And Now. Somehow it feels like Here And Now is Say You'll Be Mine on steroids. It shows how their sound evolved but still stayed Steps.
I can't wait until the tour's over because the amount of times I've started to chip in here and nearly given a spoiler away.
Just re-listened to Light Up The World album. Am I the only one who believes that run of "One Less Bell to Answer" and "A House is Not a Home" is an absolute thrill. OK, so it's far from typical/classic Steps, but the production and vocal delivery is really on point, I think at least. I also think "It May Be Winter Outside" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" are excellent. For me it's the boys solo numbers and "When She Loved Me" that let the record down, the former two because they're generic and phoned-in and the latter because it just doesn't feel remotely festive. I would be ok with Claire's potential solo record being a bit of a Barbra Streisand-lite affair, though in some ways having (particularly) Faye and Lisa's vocals is just that perfect recipe.
I crack out my DIY Light Up The World 'EP' every Christmas. It consists of: History Is Made At Night Light Up The World It May Be Winter Outside Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) Merry Xmas Everybody Heartbeat (Simon Hill Mix) Dear Santa (new this year, obviously) It's really not a bad playlist, which makes the disaster that was the real Light Up The World so much worse.
I like Overjoyed but it doesn't give me Christmas feels, which is strange because History Is Made At Night does.
