This Moment

With nothing left to prove, Steven Curtis Chapman churned out another winning set of Christian pop tunes on his 17th studio album. You get the feeling that the man with the most Dove Awards in the history of the Gospel Music Association could write this stuff in his sleep. He's that good, and the tunes are that well done. This Moment finds him leaning in the same polished pop direction as his creative and popular Speechless era. It offers artists half his age a textbook for personable, polished, songwriting craft. You have a tender daddy-daughter tribute in "Cinderella," an ode to mothers ("One Heartbeat at a Time"), a worship anthem ("With One Voice"), an introspective rocker ("Broken"), and power pop with traces of punk ("You Are Being Loved"). Each of these, of course, represents a "moment" to which the album refers collectively as the reasons we ought to celebrate life. He even took his own advice and made the 50-date Live in This Moment Tour a family affair. His two sons Will Franklin (drums) and Caleb (guitar) joined the band on the road. Without a doubt, the ease and confidence with which Chapman crafts his gems is his enduring legacy.