VARIOUS ARTISTS; "NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack" (CBS Records) ★★★1/2
"NCIS" is a huge CBS hit. The show, which some of you may not know, takes its name from Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The show is like a naval "CSI."
According to Deseret News TV critic Scott D. Pierce, "NCIS" pulled in 20 million viewers in the time slot opposite the Fox megahit "American Idol."
Well, to up the ante, CBS Records has released "NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack," which is, as the title suggests, songs featured in each episode of the series this season.
These songs — Oasis' "Boy With the Blues," Bob Dylan's "Things Have Changed," Skold vs. KMFDM's "Love Is Like," Jakob Dylan's "No Matter What" and Nitzer Ebb's "Promises," to name a few — are atmospheric. But that's just part of the reason to get this CD.
The other reason is the fact that the show's producers put out a call to artists to submit songs to be included during the season. The songs were so interesting that the producers decided to submit the songs to the writers and have them write episodes around the song.
Furthermore, the two CDs have their own titles that further categorize the songs: Disc 1 is "Special Agent" and Disc 2 is "Abby's Lab."
The soundtrack is a must for "NCIS" fans, and if the casual fan is a music lover, the collection includes rare and never-before released tracks.
E-mail: scott@desnews.com