On 1977's "The Belle Album," R&B love man extraordinaire Al Green was caught in a wrestling match between temptation and the Lord -- and the Lord won ("Belle/ It's you that I want but it's Him that I need"). Green, aka the Right Reverend Green of Memphis' Full Gospel Tabernacle Church, devoted the better part of the next 18 years to gospel music.

Who knows what spirit moved Green to return to secular R&B on his new release "Your Heart's in Good Hands"? Green is back singing the praises of earthly pleasures again, and that's a mighty big deal.

Green works with four different producers here, which explains the mixed quality of the tracks. Skip the bland Narada Michael Walden-produced title song, which reduces Green to just another studio singer, and a Jodeci collaboration that's more Jodeci than Green. The knockouts here are five tracks produced by David Steele and Andy Cox of Fine Young Cannibals (as in, "Whatever happened to...?").

Brits Steele and Cox are obvious students of Green's '70s Muscle Shoals sound, yet they don't let reverence cloud their judgment (they're the only producers here smart enough to reunite Green with his old pals the Memphis Horns). They push Green, challenge him to create something that can stand alongside "Let's Stay Together" and "Tired of Being Alone," yet not sound rehashed. And on the Green-Steele compositions "Best Love" and "Your Love (Is More than I Ever Hoped For)," contemporized by percolating Cannibals-style guitars and the zippy British female singing group Mint Juleps, Green delivers the goods. Hallelujah!

-- Joyce Millman