The Heavens Are Telling

The Heavens Are Telling is an album by multiple Grammy- and Stellar- award winning gospel singer Karen Clark Sheard, released on November 4, 2003. The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top Gospel Charts, #11 on the Billboard Top Christian Charts, #44 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Charts, and #188 on the Billboard Top 200.^[1]

Though the last release performed well on the charts, the slick contemporary R&B production was not openly-embraced by Sheard's core audience of traditional gospel music listeners. This release returns to the formula of her hugely successful, well-received, and Grammy-nominated debut Finally Karen, by offering half of the album as a collection of live tracks, and half as a collection of upbeat studio productions. Radio edits of the live tracks "We Acknowledge You" and "We Are Not Ashamed (featuring Mary Mary)" served as the album's lead singles.

Leaning more toward embracing a contemporary worship audience, Karen covers two previously popularized songs penned by Israel Houghton and Martha Munizzi. In a nod to the mainstream R&B audience that the previous album's style catered to, Karen brings her daughter Kierra in on a gospelized live cover of Jill Scott's signature song "He Loves Me (Lyzel In E Flat)". It is also on this song that Clark Sheard first committs to recording the self-echoing ad-libs that have become her signature as of late.

This would be Karen's last album for the Elektra Records label, which was dissolved into Atlantic Records in February of 2004.