Step II

{{Infobox album

| name = Step II

| type = studio

| artist = Sylvester

| cover = Step II Sylvester album.jpg

| alt =

| released = 1978

| recorded =

| studio = Fantasy
(Berkeley, California)
Conway
(Los Angeles, California)
Clark-Brown Audio
(Los Angeles, California)

| genre =

Disco
Hi-NRG

| length = 35:17

| label = Fantasy

| producer = Harvey Fuqua, Sylvester

| prev_title = Sylvester

| prev_year = 1977

| next_title = Stars

| next_year = 1979

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Step II

| type = album

| single1 = Dance (Disco Heat)

| single1date = August 1978

| single2 = You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

| single2date = October 1978

}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{AllMusic |class=album |id=mw0000875023 |label=Step II review |first= |last= |accessdate=2019-11-23}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2score = B+{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: S|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=S&bk=70|accessdate=November 23, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}

| rev3 = Pitchfork

| rev3score = 9.2/10{{cite web|last=Torres|first=Eric|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sylvester-step-ii/ |title=Sylvester: Step II |website=Pitchfork|date=February 7, 2021|accessdate=February 7, 2021}}

| rev4 = The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul

| rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul |date=1998 |publisher=Virgin |pages=323, 324}}

}}

Step II is the fourth studio album by American singer Sylvester, released in 1978 on the Fantasy label.

Commercial performance

The album peaked at No. 7 on the R&B albums chart. It also reached No. 28 on the Billboard 200. The album features the singles "Dance (Disco Heat)", which peaked at No. 4 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)", which charted at No. 20 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both songs reached No. 1 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on February 13, 1979.

Track listing

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

| writer1 = Sylvester, James "Tip" Wirrick

| length1 = 6:39

| title2 = Dance (Disco Heat)

| writer2 = Eric Robinson, Victor Orsborn

| length2 = 5:50

| title3 = You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) – Epilogue

| writer3 = Sylvester, James "Tip" Wirrick

| length3 = 3:19

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title4 = Grateful

| writer4 = Sylvester, Michael Finden

| length4 = 3:27

| title5 = I Took My Strength from You

| writer5 = Burt Bacharach, Hal David

| length5 = 7:16

| title6 = Was It Something That I Said

| writer6 = Sylvester, Harvey Fuqua

| length6 = 4:15

| title7 = Just You and Me Forever

| writer7 = Eric Robinson, Victor Orsborn

| length7 = 4:31

}}

Personnel

Sylvester – lead vocals and backing vocals, acoustic piano
Patrick Cowley – string, Electro-comp 101 and 200 models synthesizers and Oberheim DS-2 sequencer, special effects
Michael Finden – electric piano, organ and clavinet
James "Tip" Wirrick – electric guitar
Eric Robinson – acoustic piano (track 7)
Bob Kingson – bass (tracks 1–6)
James Jamerson, Jr. – bass (track 7)
Randy Merritt – drums (tracks 1–6)
James Gadson – drums (track 7)
David Frazier – percussion
George Bohanon – horns
Charles Veal Jr. – strings, concertmaster
Izora Rhodes, Martha Wash – backing vocals
Leslie Drayton – string and horn arrangements

Technical

Nancy C. Pitts – associate producer
Eddie Bill Harris – remix
Phil Bray – photography

Charts

Album

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" !scope="col"\|Chart (1978) !scope="col"\|Peak position
scope="row"\|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book\|last=Kent\|first=David\|author-link=David Kent (historian)\|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992\|edition=illustrated\|publisher=Australian Chart Book\|location=St Ives, N.S.W.\|year=1993\|isbn=0-646-11917-6\|page=303}} \| style="text-align:center;"\|74
scope="row"\|US Billboard Top LPs{{cite web\|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/sylvester\|title=US Charts > Sylvester\|work=Billboard\|accessdate=23 November 2019}} \|align="center"\|28
scope="row"\|US Billboard Top Soul LPs \|align="center"\|7

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Chart (1978)

!scope="col"|Peak
position

scope="row"|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=303}}

| style="text-align:center;"|74

scope="row"|US Billboard Top LPs{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/sylvester|title=US Charts > Sylvester|work=Billboard|accessdate=23 November 2019}}

|align="center"|28

scope="row"|US Billboard Top Soul LPs

|align="center"|7

Singles

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
scope="col" rowspan="2"\| Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2"\| Title ! scope="col" colspan="3"\| Peaks
style="font-size:smaller;" ! scope="col" width="35"\| US ! scope="col" width="35"\| US R&B ! scope="col" width="35"\| US Dan
rowspan="2"\|1978 \| align="left"\| "Dance (Disco Heat)" \| 19 \| 4 \| rowspan="2"\| 1
align="left"\| "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" \| 36 \| 20

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title

! scope="col" colspan="3"| Peaks

style="font-size:smaller;"

! scope="col" width="35"| US

! scope="col" width="35"| US
R&B

! scope="col" width="35"| US
Dan

rowspan="2"|1978

| align="left"| "Dance (Disco Heat)"

| 19

| 4