Throughout his career, Steven Curtis Chapman has tastefully combined his appreciation for down-home country with forward-sounding pop sensibilities. Add to the country and pop a bundle of opportunities for Chapman to flash his guitar wizardry, and you have his 1994 release Heaven in the Real World, one of the more pleasing Christian-music efforts of the decade. The light-hearted "King of the Jungle" and "Dancing with the Dinosaur" are balanced by the more serious and moving "Still Listening" and "Miracle of Mercy." The appealing title track rocks with an urgency that drives Chapman's divine message home. With the best yet to come (1996's Signs of Life), Chapman still stands tall with this quality recording. --Michael Lyttle