Amongst the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, British pop-group Steps have confirmed the release of a new Greatest Hits collection. The album entitled The Platinum Collection is set to be released on 19th August 2022 and will mark the hitmaker’s twenty-fifth anniversary. The upcoming album boasts a tracklist full of the band’s hits and fan favourites, within the announcement the group also confirmed that the album will contain two new tracks entitled “Hard 2 Forget” and “The Runner”.
A statement from the group has been released concerning the upcoming release, “We cannot believe this year marks our 25th anniversary! Someone recently mentioned that the latest era of Steps has actually now outlasted our original run which was a delightful surprise. This anniversary marks the perfect moment to take a look back at everything we’ve achieved as a band.”
The statement continues to describe the collection, “We realised that we’ve released a full 3 new studio albums since our last Greatest Hits so it felt like time to combine all our hits on one package. We’ve recorded two brand-new tracks for the album and presto, the ‘Platinum Collection’ was born. It was such good fun listening back at 25 years of our songs and we hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane as much we did.”
The group first rose to fame in 1997 but disbanded in 2001, following an extended hiatus rumours concerning a possible union began to circulate in 2011. In October of 2011, the band confirmed their re-formation and announced dates for The Ultimate Tour. The group’s reformation included all original members, Lee Latchford-Evans, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Ian H Watkins.
Much speculation has resurfaced after the confirmation of the upcoming album due to the band’s previous relationship with Greatest Hits albums. The bands initial disbanding took place after the release of their 2001 greatest hits album Gold: Greatest Hits. Scott-Lee spoke with The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column to reassure fans that history will not repeat itself, “We haven’t talked about splitting up because Steps is for ever and there is so much love out there for the group.”
Ahead of the new release, the “5,6,7,8” hitmakers have also released the “Platinum Megamix” across all popular streaming services. The re-worked musical montage of the band’s career was also released via YouTube on 1st June 2022, the track was also accompanied by a nostalgic music video. The megamix has been described as “a fabulous reminder of all their gigantic hits from the past two and a half decades.”
Pre-sale for The Platinum Collection has now opened, the album will be released in various formats for fans to collect and purchase. Along with a digital release, the album will be available as a standard CD, Deluxe double CD, Cassette and Vinyl. Music fans will also be able to obtain five special solo editions, this format will also contain a playlist curated by Steps, the specially created collection will chart the band’s success and influence.
Click here to pre-order The Platinum Collection.
