"Just a Step from Heaven" is a song by British girl group

Eternal Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to: * Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state * Immortality or eternal life * God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism Comics, film and television * ...

, released as the third single from their debut album, '' Always & Forever'' (1993). Released on 18 April 1994 by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

and 1st Avenue, the single was well received by music critics, entering at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart on 24 April. It climbed to its peak of number eight three weeks later and spent a total of 11 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. It also reached the top 30 in Ireland and New Zealand and experienced minimal success in North America. The song was written by Wayne Cohen and Sheppard Solomon, and produced by Dennis Charles and Ronnie Wilson. Its accompanying music video was directed by

Matthew Rolston Matthew Russell Rolston is an American artist, photographer, director and creative director, known for his lighting techniques and detailed approach to art direction and design. Rolston has been identified throughout his career with the revival an ...

Critical reception

Jon O'Brien from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

complimented the song as an example of "perfect R&B-infused pop". Upon the release,

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine wrote, "A glowing moment from the noteworthy '' Always & Forever'' album, this midtempo jam chugs along with rich harmonies, a diva-driven lead vocal, and an arrangement that pads a

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

foundation with sweet retro-soul nuances and a killer chorus. Juicy." The Stud Brothers from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' praised the song as "glorious", adding, "With that song and that video, Eternal — a band hitherto known for ersatz soul and the mildest of

swingbeat New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Terry L ...

— prove that Brit R&B can be as exhilarating and stylish as its American counterpart." Sam Steele from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' remarked, "An innocuous uptempo luurve ballard, 'Just a Step...' drapes its perfect soul curves over some barely audible hip-hop scratching, swells into one of those swoonsome string laden choruses and generally sounds stunning in a superfluous supermodel kind of way."

Mark Frith Mark Frith (born 22 May 1970, in Sheffield) is a British journalist, music critic, and editor. He has been a writer and editor for magazines such as ''Smash Hits'', '' Time Out'' and ''Heat''. He has since branched into TV and radio presenting, ...

from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' gave it a top score of five out of five and named it Best New Single, commenting, "At first I wasn't very sure about this. Not as sultry and soully as '

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tr ...

', missing the great infectious pop energy of ' Save Our Love'. After listen number five it strikes you — this has the best of both and is the pick of the bunch. Sassy, well-sung and a little bit funky, 'Just a Step from Heaven' is another big hit. And the video, directed by the person behind the

Salt N Pepa In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as ro ...

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the singl ...

Whatta Man "What a Man" is a song written by Dave Crawford, and originally recorded for Stax Records' Volt imprint by Linda Lyndell, whose recording reached number 50 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1968. The song was sampled and reinterpreted as "What ...

' promo, is meant to be a little special too. We've probably lost them to America but Eternal are a jewel well worth keeping."

Music video

The music video for "Just a Step from Heaven" was directed by American artist, photographer, director and creative director

. The Stud Brothers from ''Melody Maker'' commented, "Have you seent that video? The one that accompanies Eternal's 'Just a Step from Heaven'. The one that quite literally kicks off with a gang of kids tearing through an urban wasteland, then cuts to an anthracite-haired goddess, standing at a university podium, delivering a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

-tinged sermon on self-love, beneath the intimidating clenched-fist of the

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

movement. Now that is one serious f*** video. Packaged rebellion, for sure, but what packaging." Easther Bennett of Eternal told in an interview, "Without that video, the song could easily been interpreted as some boy/girl thing. With the video, we stress a greater kind of love and pride. We ask people to see strength in themselves and use it in a positive way."

Track listings

* UK and Australian CD single # "Just a Step from Heaven" (radio mix) # "

" (

Teddy Riley Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American record producer, singer, and songwriter credited with the creation of the R&B and hip-hop fusion genre, new jack swing. Musical artists who utilized Riley's production and songwri ...

remix) # "I've Got to Be with You" # "Fantasy" * UK 7-inch and cassette single # "Just a Step from Heaven" (remix) # "I've Got to Be with You" # "Stay" (Teddy Riley "Eternal" remix) * UK 12-inch single :A1. "Just a Step from Heaven" (West End Wild & Groovy mix) :A2. "Just a Step from Heaven" (West End RnB Rub mix) :B1. "Just a Step from Heaven" (Frankie Foncett mix) :B2. "Stay" (Teddy Riley remix) * US cassette single :A1. "Just a Step from Heaven" :B1. "I've Got to Be with You" :B2. "Stay" (extended mix) * Japanese mini-CD single # "Just a Step from Heaven" (radio mix) # "Stay" (Teddy Riley remix)

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the ''Always & Forever'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at Roundhouse Recording Studios (London, England) * Mixed at

RG Jones Recording Studios RG, Rg or rg may refer to: People * Pete RG (fl. 1998–2015), an American singer-songwriter * Razor Ramon RG or Makoto Izubuchi (born 1974), a Japanese professional wrestler * RG Sharma (born 1987), an Indian international cricketer * RG Snym ...

(London, England) Personnel * Wayne Cohen – writing * Sheppard Solomon – writing * Dennis Charles – production * Ronnie Wilson – production * Johnny Douglas – additional production and remix

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1993 songs 1994 singles Eternal (band) songs EMI Records singles First Avenue Records singles Music videos directed by Matthew Rolston Songs written by Sheppard Solomon