In 1996, Steve played bass on Chris Whitley's third album Terra Incognita (Columbia). Then, after a seventeen- year hiatus, The Suicide Commandos played a reunion show in Minneapolis... and 10,000 people showed up! Mercury/Polygram reissued The Commandos' sole studio album, Make A Record, on compact disc. In the summer of 1998, Steve recorded his third solo album, Human, All Too Human, at Mitch Easter's new Fidelitorium studio in North Carolina. Mitch co-produced the album with Steve, with the music by The Ministers Of Sound.

In 2001, Kingo A Wild One was the first Steve Almaas solo album to receive domestic distribution, with a US release through Parasol Records.

In 2002, Continuing on the winning streak started with 2001's excellent Kingo a Wild One, Steve Almaas teams up with then girlfriend Ali Smith (a noted photographer who used to be the bassist in the psychobilly Speedball Baby) to record their self-titled debut, a small-scale and utterly charming collection of largely acoustic, country-tinged pop tunes. In 2006, the duo continued their collaboration with their second release, You Showed Me, also on the Parasol label.