Steps - Take Me For a Ride (OUT NOW)

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I guess we're getting this tomorrow!

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So nice of them to include her. I wonder if she made the video this time.
 
That clip gives me more of an early 80s synthpop feel than anything Steps have done previously.
 
Hmm. The music is good but the song itself isn’t wowing me.

Er, here’s hoping there’s a second single in six weeks like last time (assuming Victorious) that slaps.
 
The chorus peters out a bit doesn't it?

On first listen it would be a solid album track but as an effective lead single not so much.
 
"Run away with me" on anesthetics as the lead single? Ummm, k.
 
I like the synthwave vibe of the music but the song is a bit nothing.
 
Yeah it’s not bad but there’s something missing.

I’ve just seen it’s a Topham/Twigg composition which might explain it lacking the weight of most of their newer stuff.
 
It’s a bit TROTTING but I’d rather have this than most other so-called modern pop music and not everything needs to be a (spews slightly) BANGER

LIGHT AND SHADE SLAGS
 
It’s a bit TROTTING but I’d rather have this than most other so-called modern pop music and not everything needs to be a (spews slightly) BANGER

LIGHT AND SHADE SLAGS

dont tell that to the Britney crowd!
 
The lyrics are hitting the spot for me though. Get 'im Claire, that'll teach him for finishing the bagels.
 
The 'Baby, I'm not crazy' bit is already stuck in my head to be fair.

Agreed with this. It’s grown and I echo that it’s a solid little album track. Also agree after four balls out bangers it’s probably time for something a little more subdued.

But fingers crossed for a tits out anthem on album launch week to really get off with. They’ve been good at whacking singles out much quicker these days so with the album dropping in six weeks I have faith they’ll have the next one in the wings to capitalise.
 
I don't like it. And what's more, it feels symptomatic of the way their career is being managed now, which I'm growing increasingly tired of.

New song > first play on Radio 2 > top ten iTunes spot (56 copies sold) > music video > repeat with another song 4 weeks later.

Other than 'Scared Of The Dark' and (briefly) 'Heartbreak In This City', nothing sticks anymore. It's just a constant cycle of throwing material at the wall with no commitment to do anything with it other than tread water until the next song.
 
I don't like it. And what's more, it feels symptomatic of the way their career is being managed now, which I'm growing increasingly tired of.

New song > first play on Radio 2 > top ten iTunes spot (56 copies sold) > music video > repeat with another song 4 weeks later.

Other than 'Scared Of The Dark' and (briefly) 'Heartbreak In This City', nothing sticks anymore. It's just a constant cycle of throwing material at the wall with no commitment to do anything with it other than tread water until the next song.
Well really, how ungrateful and bitter
 
I don't like it. And what's more, it feels symptomatic of the way their career is being managed now, which I'm growing increasingly tired of.

New song > first play on Radio 2 > top ten iTunes spot (56 copies sold) > music video > repeat with another song 4 weeks later.

Other than 'Scared Of The Dark' and (briefly) 'Heartbreak In This City', nothing sticks anymore. It's just a constant cycle of throwing material at the wall with no commitment to do anything with it other than tread water until the next song.

But what else realistically CAN they do? Radio two and morning tv are the only ones that will have them outside of the gays and hens parties, so seems like a pretty good strategy to me, especially as it keeps them in the studio and on stage. They will never get mass recognition being the age they are, and being, well, Steps.
 
But what else realistically CAN they do? Radio two and morning tv are the only ones that will have them outside of the gays and hens parties, so seems like a pretty good strategy to me, especially as it keeps them in the studio and on stage. They will never get mass recognition being the age they are, and being, well, Steps.
Just slow things down a bit. They have a very specific demographic, I completely accept that. But the last album campaign launched and wrapped up in the space of five months (less if you count 'Heartbreak In This City' as a single from this album).

They had terrific tracks in 'Something In Your Eyes' and 'To The Beat Of My Heart' but both were subject to the same "quick, let's rush another one out" strategy. The former in particular should, by rights, be a modern Steps classic that the wider audience recognise as belonging to them, even if they didn't buy it/stream it.

So yes, maybe "gays and hen parties" is their schtick now. But if the material was actually given time to sink into the public's psyche, Steps might stand a chance of broadening their fanbase. And if they are exclusively catering to their core demographic, then there's absolutely no need at all to conduct the entire campaign on fast forward.

This song is okay. I think it could be a grower. But there's little chance of that when we'll be having the same discussion about another song in a month's time. They're utterly directionless at the moment.
 
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Just slow things down a bit. They have a very specific demographic, I completely accept that. But the last album campaign launched and wrapped up in the space of five months (less if you count 'Heartbreak In This City' as a single from this album).

They had terrific tracks in 'Something In Your Eyes' and 'To The Beat Of My Heart' but both were subject to the same "quick, let's rush another one out" strategy. The former in particular should, by rights, be a modern Steps classic that the wider audience recognise as belonging to them, even if they didn't buy it/stream it.

So yes, maybe "gays and hen parties" is their schtick now. But if the material was actually given time to sink into the public's psyche, Steps might stand a chance of broadening their fanbase. And if they are exclusively catering to their core demographic, then there's absolutely no need at all to conduct the entire campaign on fast forward.

This song is okay. I think it could be a grower. But there's little chance of that when we'll be having the same discussion about another song in a month's time. They're utterly directionless at the moment.
So much wrong with this post.

Their “specific demographic” surely want Steps and more Steps, and every new single is a treat!

The album campaign did not wrap up in 5 months, it’s still ongoing. It just so happens to be an album campaign with two albums in it. Again, what a treat!

The slowing down strategy you talk of would surely have MARGINAL impact at best with the masses, who let’s face it, will always have One For Sorrow, Tragedy, Deeper Shade of Blue and so on, and will continue to buy tickets on the back of those, so really what material benefit would there be in trying fruitlessly to make Something In Your Eyes into an actual “hit”?
 
I do understand what @Slave is saying in that it all does go by so quick without any chance for anything to catch on outside of their target market. And it can be a shame for genuinely great tracks to only be a focus for a month.

But on the flip side, the chances of anything actually catching on is minimal at best. Especially in Covid (or even prior), when the promotion options are literally a single drop, a video, a Lorraine interview and a performance on the One Show, is there any point in spreading them all out for three months when the end goal I assume is to keep the album in the chart - and the only way for a physical based act to do that is as big exposure as possible while it’s being stocked in the few stores that sell them anymore?

It’s a shame, but without the 90s relics of TOTP, CDUK, the teen music magazines and the like, I do think the best approach for them is to hammer a campaign hard for six months and then switch to touring mode.
 
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I hope the video is just Claire eating a whole gateau to herself. It will really capture the lust and regret.
 

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