of Eighties dance-pop mavens Stock, Aitken and Waterman. That's no mistake: Pete Waterman co-produced Step One -- let's just say the Backstreet Boys' Max Martin has nothing to fear. The Steps management team guides these passionate singers through Abba-esque tunes like "One for Sorrow" and "Last Thing on My Mind" with appalling efficiency. "5, 6, 7, 8" is a cute line-dance irritant, and "Heartbeat" manages an R&B lilt. But teen pop should never be this dull.

On their first-rate Shades of Purple, M2M sound like they have actually heard a Bee Gees or Abba record. Marit Larsen and Marion Raven's "Don't Say You Love Me," a syncopated case of romantic jitters, debuted on Pokemon: The First Movie. Shades of Purple offers even finer stuff. Highlights include the heartbreaking "Girl in Your Dreams," the dreamlike "Pretty Boy" and the extraordinarily fresh and snappy "Give a Little Love." On "Everything You Do," Larsen and Raven sing how their boyfriends cause their minds to spin around. Soon they abandon words altogether, expressing their joy with quick little strings of ooh-oohs and ahh-ahhs. On "Our Song," M2M make none other than the Bee Gees' "Too Much Heaven" their personal favorite, sweetly interpolating the old treasure into something all theirs. (RS 839)

JAMES HUNTER