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Release Date: September 16, 2008 Label: Sony Related Sites: · Official Site Grade: A

If you could get Ozark hickory smoke in three-part harmony, it might sound a lot like 33Miles. Delivering contemporary Christian music with a strong country music bent, the band's sophomore release, One Life, is like the perfect barbecue rub -- lots of kick, just the right amount of sweetness, and a little something for accentuation.

33Miles wastes no time getting into high gear, igniting the album with "Gone," a look at the life-changing moment of Christian conversion, building into the powerful chorus with the refrain, "There in a moment, things changed. For the first time I found grace, and the old me began to fade away... Until he was gone, gone, gone, gone, gone." 33Miles has been compared to Rascal Flatts before, and that similarity is undeniable in both this offering and the upbeat "Something Different" -- another song about conversion, although this one delivering a look from the outside, from the point of view of a person encountering someone newly changed.

There's nothing still or small about "Jesus Calling," the power ballad that builds off the lessons of Elijah, who could not hear God in the earthquake or the whirlwind, but in the still small voice he had to listen for. 33Miles also reminds listeners that the listening is a choice that has to be consciously made after asking us how we view our world: "You see there's always another story / Another side to every coin / And how you see your circumstance is all about a choice / (CHORUS) When you see the rushing wind / Feel the pouring rain / Hear the thunder now as the clouds roll in / You're blinded by the lightning -- Do you also hear that still small voice / Saying 'It's okay. You're not alone. You may be scared to death but I won't let you go.'" It's one of a number of songs that is undoubtedly going to receive a lot of airplay on Christian radio.

Another song destined for airwave popularity, as well as amateur TRAX performance, is "My Offering," which starts out with a low, raspy breathy quality one would expect from a Todd Agnew hymn, quickly building up into an explosive chorus with a beautiful message: "I cursed Your Name / You called me 'child' / I was to blame / You went to trial / And I lived to take / You died to give me more than I could ever find." The verses continue the back and forth contrast of humanity and divinity, culminating in the message of ultimate grace: "On my own, I make a mess of things / And you take it as my offering." Of all the songs on One Life, "My Offering" is the crown jewel -- the one you should buy the album for even if the rest of the tracks had only been mediocre.

The title track -- fully named "One Life to Love" -- will, if there's any justice for 33Miles, find its way across genre and into mainstream country music play. A song about regrets, with the cautionary chorus -- "You only get just one time around / You only get one shot at this / One chance to find out the one thing that you don't wanna miss." -- makes it a perfect candidate for a crossover. The life message is still there, but it's not as overt dogmatically.

One Life wraps up with the same fun, upbeat energy that kicked it off with "Little Bit of Love," a modernized and remolded version of the children's Sunday school song, "This Little Light of Mine." Emphasizing that "a little bit of love goes a long, long way / a little bit of hope can change the day," the song urges Christians to be proactive in even the smallest actions, as they often snowball into life-changing events when we can no longer see their results.

One Life is one of those rare albums where there are no bad songs -- nothing that you'll find yourself programming your player to skip. More than that, picking a favorite is going to be something of a futile chore -- it's all good -- so you're just going to have to make room on your iPod for all of it.