"After the Love Has Gone" is a song by Steps, released as their seventh single, and the third from their second album ''

Steptacular ''Steptacular'' is the second studio album by British pop group Steps, released in the United Kingdom on 25 October 1999, through Jive Records. The album was accompanied by five singles; "Love's Got a Hold on My Heart", "After the Love Has Gon ...

''. The track continues the group's pop sound but has clear Asian musical influences.

Claire Richards Claire Anne Richards (born 17 August 1977) is an English singer who is best known for being in the pop group Steps. Richards was a contestant on the second series of ''Popstar to Operastar'' before being voted off in the semi finals. She pos ...

provides lead vocals.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor Jon O'Brien described the song as "melancholic

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

". Scottish newspaper ''

Aberdeen Evening Express The ''Evening Express'' is a daily local newspaper serving the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. History It was first published in November 1879. It was a tabloid during the 1930s to the 1950s until it resumed as a broadsheet in November 1958, six da ...

'' stated that it "has all the trademark Steps piano bits", noting that it "does sound a bit too much" like "

Love's Got a Hold on My Heart "Love's Got a Hold on My Heart" is a song by British pop music group Steps. It was released as the lead single from the band's second album, ''Steptacular'' (1999). The song features Faye Tozer and Claire Richards on lead vocals. The single pe ...

". Can't Stop the Pop said that the most distinctive element of the track is that it's "proudly dressed up as an oriental number." They also complimented its "beautiful melancholy" lyrics. ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...

'' commented, "Net more

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

sound-aliking from the Steps crew. This dance routine's a bit tricky though."

Chart performance

The song spent 11 weeks on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking at number five. It fell out of the top 75 after nine weeks but rose back up to spend two more weeks inside the top 75.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was shot at

Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

and has Asian influences. It was directed by Cameron Casey and

Simón Brand Simón Brand (born July 28, 1970) is a Colombian film director. Brand has directed more than 200 TV commercials for companies such as Coca-Cola, Coors Light, AT&T, Apple Inc., BMW. He has also directed music videos for artists such as Paulina Ru ...

. The group wear jade-green outfits for the dance sequences, in a setting of Chinese lanterns and a dancing dragon.

Track listings

UK CD single # "After the Love Has Gone" – 4:35 # "After the Love Has Gone" (W.I.P. Mix) – 5:37 # "My Best Friend's Girl" – 3:40 European maxi-CD single # "After the Love Has Gone" (radio mix) – 4:35 # "After the Love Has Gone" (video mix) – 4:35 # "After the Love Has Gone" (W.I.P. Mix) – 5:37 # "My Best Friend's Girl" – 3:40 UK cassette single and European CD single # "After the Love Has Gone" – 4:35 # "My Best Friend's Girl" – 3:40 Australian CD single # "After the Love Has Gone" (radio mix) – 4:35 # "After the Love Has Gone" (W.I.P. Mix) – 5:37 # "My Best Friend's Girl" – 3:40 # " One for Sorrow" (Tony Moran's 7-inch remix) – 3:30

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''

''.

A-side: "After the Love Has Gone"

Recording * Recorded at PWL Studios, Manchester, in 1999 * Mixed at PWL Studios, Manchester * Mastered at Transformation Studios, London Vocals * Lead vocals – Claire Richards * Background vocals – Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer, Lee Latchford-Evans, Ian "H" Watkins Personnel * Songwriting – Mark Topham, Karl Twigg, Lance Ellington * Production – Mark Topham, Karl Twigg, Pete Waterman * Mixing – Tim Speight * Engineer – Dan Frampton * Drums – Chris McDonnell * Keyboards – Karl Twigg * Guitar – Mark Topham * Bass – Mark Topham * Mandolin – Erwin Keiles

B-side: "My Best Friend's Girl"

Recording * Recorded at PWL Studios, Manchester, in 1999 * Mixed at PWL Studios, Manchester * Mastered at Transformation Studios, London Vocals * Lead vocals – Ian "H" Watkins * Background vocals – Claire Richards, Faye Tozer, Lisa Scott-Lee, Lee Latchford-Evans Personnel * Songwriting – Mark Topham, Karl Twigg, Lance Ellington * Production – Mark Topham, Karl Twigg, Pete Waterman * Mixing – Chris McDonnell

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1999 singles 1999 songs Jive Records singles Pete Waterman Entertainment singles Songs written by Karl Twigg Songs written by Lance Ellington Songs written by Mark Topham Steps (group) songs