Steven Curtis Chapman

Item: Heaven in the Real World
Author: Roger Appelinski

Heaven in the Real World

(1994)

Reviewed by Roger Appelinski

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Label Sparrow RecordsThe LighthouseJuly 1994

adult contemporary ccm pop rock

Steven Curtis Chapman seems to always win Songwriter of the Year at the Dove Awards anymore. With the release of Heaven in the Real World, he probably will win again.

As in his past work, his songs are structurally very simple-basically two or three combinations of verse-chorus-bridge patterns. I think what sets Chapman apart as a master songwriter is his ability to create interesting metaphors and observations about his life and his Christian walk. Heaven... is intended as an encouragement for Christians to stand firm and remember that Jesus brought heaven to the real world.

The material on Heaven... may be some of his best lyrics yet. "Burn the Ships" compares the devil's pressure to that of Cortez's crew landing in Mexico. Since the mission must not fail, the encouragement is to "Burn the ships, we're here to stay/There's no way we could go back/Now that we've come this far by faith." "Dancing with the Dinosaur" is another creative highlight. Since it seems that "the conscience has gone the way of the dinosaur," we should rejoice and be "dancing with the dinosaur."

Most of the other lyrics are the down-to-earth, real-life Christian walk kind of lyrics that Chapman is known for. The trend of love song continues here, with one that I like even more than "I Will Be Here." The song "Love and Learn" takes a very realistic look at the struggles that are involved in a marriage relationship, but "as long as we both hold on to the hand of God and each other/And take a lifetime/We'll take a lifetime to love and learn."

My first reaction when I heard Heaven... is that it felt like a musical trip through the career of Steven Curtis Chapman as well as a step beyond those past albums. Several tracks evoked strong memories of tunes-gone-by in an enjoyable way. Many songs start off with a soft acoustic guitar accompaniment, like something from More to This Life or Real Life Conversations but then build to a major instrumental and choral-backed chorus, more like "For the Sake of the Call." There are some stronger highlights of rock and pop floating around in spots as well.

I think Heaven in the Real World should impress any fan of Chapman, and may extend his appeal further into the CHR realm.