I think it will be fine. Do Steps even have 'casual fans' that would actually go and purchase the album anyway?
There's no way it's going to flop. There's no reason whatsoever that it'll miss out on the usual Steps fan coin, and that'll be enough to get it top 10 on a busy week, or the usual top 5 if they get a quiet release week. Particularly if they lead into it with a banger of a single. And I'm assuming they're not daft - they'll have kept a good song behind for this. All the promo is going to be heavy on the "brand new album" angle. In the little bit they did around Heartbreak's release, they made sure to really push that message.
I got a reply today which is basically “idk lol” “Thank you for your email. Apologies for the delay in dispatching your order. The expected shipping date was set for the w/c 3rd May. However, unfortunately production times exceeded this estimate and we are still waiting for the stock to reach us. Please rest assured, once the stock arrives here all pending orders – yours included – will be packed and dispatched immediately. You will of course receive an email notification once your order has been shipped letting you know your order is on route to you.”
Casual fans don't buy albums in 2021. They listen on streaming which is infinitely cheaper and more comfortable. It's the reason why vinyls sell more than CDs these days and iTunes charts are irrelevant. People who buy albums are collectors. Which is great news for them because it means that their core fans are enough to make the top 10, and those ones are well informed of their releases. It will be much more important for them to get the core fans to buy multiple formats like they did with Pt.1. That's where this album might not do as good considering how recent the last release was.
I think Part 2 has simply come about because they've had far more time to source a few extra songs since the original album was done. It's there to do a similar job as the Tears Deluxe did: shift extra tickets and keep the Steps name out there for whatever plans are following the tour. I don't think any of them are being kept awake at night over it charting 10 places lower as that's not how they make their money, and really, fans of a heritage group need to chill (Bill) about it all too and just enjoy things more!
The song with the acoustic version would be the new single. So, it’s possible that track 11 isn’t the same song as tracks 16 and 20. I’d be surprised if the new single is the last new track in the running order. Track 16 and 20 are hidden to avoid revealing the single. Track 11 may be another surprise. I just hope track 11 is not a Christmas song.
Agree with what everyone is saying. They'll easily get a Top 10 just off the fan sales and bundles alone. Then if you add in the promo they'll be doing and single before the album it'll push it even higher. Part 1 hung around the Top 100 for a few weeks and I expect this will have a similar trajectory providing they get some good promo. I honestly cannot wait for the album and the tour obviously. To be 24 years down the line and have an 18 date arena tour coming up is pretty amazing.
Same reply everyone else has been getting. Dunno what the hold up is, my tee is a white t-shirt with a blue logo on. I know there ain't a shortage of white t-shirts.
This tour will probably be the first big event I go to and I couldn’t think of a better reintroduction to live music than a Steps concert! I may be up in Level 3 of the Hydro but I will be living my best life that night.
I really hope it's as close to normal as we can get. I don't want to have to be wearing masks or social distancing etc. I'm pretty hopeful we won't but...
Love this. It may even do WTFH Part 1 some good. By then they should be able to do less restrictive pandemic promo too. In the meantime, can us fans divert our energy to hounding their team to put some TV performances on their official YouTube like most other acts do. Namely Graham Norton and Royal Variety etc.
Track 20 will be a remix of track 16 which is an acoustic version of track 11 which is a dubstep version of Track 7 Justice for Track 7
I love if we get a What The Future Holds: Complete Edition CD Just another CD to add to the collection really.
Not sure if it's been noted but 5,6,7,8 is over 40million streams on Spotify and Something In Your Eyes is over 2million. Heartbreak in this City (with Michelle) is creeping ever closer to 1million streams.
Just saw this melodifestivalen throwback and it struck me as a song Steps could easily have done back in the day and it would've been fantastic.
