[1] The album is heavily influenced by jazzy lounge, pop-R&B and composed of songs that resemble the sound of international records at the time.

Under the direction of Warner managing head Ricky R. Ilacad, foreign songwriters and arrangers from the United States and South Korea, including Shelly Peiken and Guy Roche, were hired for the production of the album.

Ilacad was very impressed with Nina's submitted demo version of Steve Perry's "Foolish Heart" which they decided to re-record for the album.

"Foolish Heart", a song originally included on Nina's demo, began receiving heavy airplay and later, charted at number-one in the country for four weeks.

[6] Her father, Filbert, noticed her potential and immediately trained her to hone her skills by doing several techniques such as submerging her into a drum of water, while belting out her high notes.

Instead of a professional music career, he wanted his daughter to finish her studies and then join him in the United States to work.

[7] It was composed of three tracks, including the Steve Perry song "Foolish Heart", "Breathe Again" and "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)", recorded in a home studio with only a guitar for accompaniment.

[9] After listening to the demos, Warner Music managing director at that time, Ricky Ilacad wanted to sign her up even without seeing or hearing her in person.

[9] Two months after her father died of heart attack in the United States, she signed her first contract with Warner Music.

[11] Believing that she has the potential to be the next superstar,[12] Ilacad made a huge preparation for the release of Nina's debut album.

[13] International songwriters Shelly Peiken, Guy Roche, Brett Laurence and Gary Haase contributed some of the album's tracks.

Arnie Mendaros, vocal coach of Nina, wrote and composed "2nd Floor", which later became an award-winning and charting promotional single.

"[14] Nina described Heaven as "a mix of pop and R&B," while critics noted the heavy influence of hip-hop to the album.

[6] Paolo Reyes of The Philippine Star stated the album "features 10 smooth and euphonic tracks infused with an eclectic blend of styles ranging from rap to romantic.

Armed with a panoply of fleeting ballads for lovelorn (and lonely-hearted) listeners, the album also boasts rap styling remixes by Artstrong and DJ Lowkey lending the compilation a true trip-hop, R&B feel.

"[6] Heaven was a critical acclaim, receiving praise for its production value, musical style and Nina's vocal ability.

With successful singles like "Jealous" and "Foolish Heart," it is considered to be one of the main reasons why acoustic phenomenon became very much popular in the Philippines.

Furthermore, the album has brought back inclusions of whistle register (similar to Mariah Carey's technique) to Filipino pop/R&B songs released in the later years.

Leonardo Belen of Manila Bulletin described Heaven as "a groovy and breakthrough album, boasting of an international-sounding music and voice, sung by a young Filipina talent.

"[15] According to music critic Paolo Reyes, the album is "an eclectic blend of styles ranging from rap to romantic.

The song was considered to be one of the first R&B-hip hop inspired tracks in the Philippine music scene, which was rare for Filipino acts at that time.

When the song was released in February 2003, it managed to pick up substantial airplay, allowing it to enter and top the charts immediately.

In 2003, she was featured in an episode of MYX Live!, hosted by Rico Blanco, where she performed acoustic versions of "Heaven" and "2nd Floor".

"2nd Floor" is considered to be a success, earning a few awards and entering Philippine music charts, without even a commercial release.

In addition, her second commercial single, "Jealous", won the "Best Song" titles on both MTV Pilipinas Music Awards and Magic 89.9.