This specially produced 2-CD soundtrack from the hit television series, NCIS, stands apart from TV soundtracks that merely compile a selection of songs that were heard in a series' previous episodes. Instead, this collection features brand new tracks from Blue October, Dashboard Confessional, Oasis, Seether, Jakob Dylan, The Airborne Toxic Event, Saving Abel, Perry Farrell, Will Dailey, Skold vs. KMFDM, Collide and electronica pioneers Nitzer Ebb, all set for prominent placement in NCIS episodes beginning in February 2009, coinciding with the release of this soundtrack.

The album also features recent tracks from Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Sharon Little, Keaton Simons and Android Lust - all utilized in recent NCIS episodes - as well as the show's original theme (available commercially for the first time) and a brand new theme remix from industrial music giants, Ministry. NCIS show producers listened to literally dozens of submitted tracks before choosing the ones best suited for upcoming storylines, and from which the show's writers could draw upon for inspiration. As NCIS Executive Producer Shane Brennan explains, ''We've put the same amount of attention and care into the creation of our soundtrack that we do with our show every week. We listened to countless tracks to find the tunes that would not only fit into particular episodes, but would actually help drive our storylines. We couldn't be more thrilled that so many great artists share our vision for integrating music into television and have agreed to offer up new music for our soundtrack. We think the fans will be getting something truly special as a result.''

The soundtrack also features show stars Pauley Perrette (Abby Sciuto), who performs the self-composed ''Fear'' under the moniker Stop Making Friends, and Cote de Pablo (Ziva David), whose memorable performance of Tom Waits' ''Temptation'' from a recent episode is included on the soundtrack. Perrette has an extensive background in music, owning her own independent record label and fronting several bands, and it is her character, Abby, whose music sensibilities in the show serve as the basis for the soundtrack's ''Abby's Lab'' disc.

2009-06-03 -- 4/5:: NCIS soundtrack
Two CD soundtrack. CD #1 is excellent; #2 is a bit heavy-type metal for me. Overall a great purchase

2009-05-28 -- 3/5:: PRETTY GOOD REPRESENTATION OF NCIS MUSIC
[3½ stars] Even though I wasn't a big fan of NCIS when I first started watching the show, it eventually grew on me. Now I'm hooked on it! I felt the same way about the soundtrack CD - not that impressive at first but one that grows on you with each listen.

The soundtrack is actually a two-CD set handsomely packaged in an eco-friendly foldout cardboard case, which also includes a booklet containing scenes from NCIS. I actually preferred the first disk as it had more of a diverse selection of music. Two standouts for me were the (original)NCIS theme by Numeriklab and "Temptation." The Numeriklab NCIS theme is the extended version of the ORIGINAL 30-second leader you hear at the beginning of each show. "Temptation" is sung by Cote de Pablo, whose character, Ziva David, sings it at a Morocco bar at the beginning of Season 6 (remember the sexy blue dress?). De Pablo actually has a very pleasant voice, and it's almost worth the cost of the CD just to get this song as well as the Numeriklab NCIS theme! Other highlights are "No Matter What" by Jakob Dylan, "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan, "Troubled Land" by John Mellencamp and "Boy With the Blues" by Oasis. Even though a lot of these songs aren't really "my" style of music, I still think they were well done for the most part. I give the first disk 4½ stars for the selections, and especially for "Temptation" and the Numeriklab NCIS theme.

However, I found the second disc (Abby's Lab) to be somewhat disappointing (which is one reason why I docked a star). Even though this is the type of music I could picture Abby listening to, it lacked a lot of the techno instrumental music we are used to hearing in Abby's lab. (In fact, the only techno-instrumental piece was "Satellite 2009" by Solamingus). Pauley Perrette (who plays Abby) does a good job with her group, Stop Making Friends, on the song "Fear." The NCIS Theme Remix by Ministry, however, was forgettable. Even though the artists did a respectable job, it's just not really "my" style of music. As a result, I will probably not listen to this disc nearly as much as the first one.

Furthermore, even though there are tracks you can download independently from the album, most of the selections (including all of my favorites) cannot be downloaded unless you purchase or download the entire album (which is the other reason I docked a star).

However, if you'd like to hear the original NCIS theme in its entirety, as well as de Pablo's "Temptation" -- and appreciate the diverse selection of music -- then I would still recommend this CD.

2009-05-21 -- 3/5:: Not Really what I would call a Soundtrack
I just love NCIS and was hoping when I got this that it would be more NCIS theme classics however it is more from various artist and to me not actually what is in each episode for the themes. I guess I was looking for more music themes and less singing. Still a decent CD but was somewhat disappointed.

2009-05-09 -- 4/5:: NCIS
It was not what I thought it would be. It is stll a great CD, but I don't remember some of the music.

2009-04-26 -- 4/5:: Pretty good!
I listened to this set the day I got it, and I felt it was pretty good. That is, I liked most of the songs, which is always nice. It's great to have the longer cut of the theme.