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CBS Records will release NCIS: The Official TV Score Music by Brian Kirk on Tuesday, March 29.

Instead of merely compiling brief snippets of musical cues -- the norm for most score soundtracks -- NCIS composer Brian Kirk created each of the album's 14 tracks by mixing various musical pieces from the show's episodes into standalone suites of music. The resulting album provides the listener with a unique and immersive audio experience, presenting the NCIS music in a cohesive format designed to be listened to as fans would any of their favorite albums.

This first score soundtrack from the worldwide hit television series follows two previous hit NCIS soundtracks that compiled songs featured in the show during its first seven seasons many of them previously unreleased and exclusive to those albums. As a bonus for the show's fans, NCIS: The Official TV Score also features a 15th track: the first commercial release of the ''NCIS Main Theme'' that has opened each series episode for the past eight seasons.

In addition to the contributions of his longtime musical collaborators, Greg Burns and Jeff Burns, Kirk cites the show's fans as an important influence on NCIS: The Official TV Score. ''Oh, they were definitely in the room with us; we absolutely set out to do something different and create an album worthy of the fans devotion to the show. So if people like the way we've presented the NCIS music on this album, the show s fans should share a lot of the credit.''

As composer for NCIS for the past six seasons, Brian Kirk has written and produced more than 60 hours of music for the series. Having to choose one album's worth of music from among those hours of material all of it having been integral to the series episodes was a daunting task for Kirk, to say the least.

While Kirk's process begins with expanding upon musical elements that he has created and developed over the course of six seasons, there are myriad other pieces that need to be created during a given episode. As Kirk explains, ''There are seven characters on the show that make up the NCIS team, and we've developed a musical signature for each one, all of which can take on many forms, he said. We certainly wanted those signatures properly represented on the album, but then there are other musical elements that are meant to convey or enhance the emotion of a particular scene.'' In short, Kirk had quite a lot of music to choose from as he worked toward creating a meaningful representation of the show's musical score.

As NCIS Executive Producer Shane Brennan explains, ''Brian s challenge is compounded by the fact that while the show is built on a dramatic structure, there are also the lighter, more comedic moments that make our show different from other crime-solving dramas. Brian s music is instrumental in helping to create this distinct nature of the show, and in bringing the audience along for that ride without jarring them.''