Rob Smith & Nils-Ole Finbak - Atmospheres (2009)

Rob Smith & Nils-Ole Finbak - Atmospheres
(Released June 2009)
Released by Polar Music New Zealand
Piano Recorded @ Finbak Music Studio's, Bobo, Norway
Vocals & Guitars Recorded @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand
Produced by Rob Smith @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand
Mastered by Rob Smith @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand

- Rob Smith
- Vocals, Guitars

- Nils-Ole Finbak
- Piano, Programming - "Mother Love" & "...And I Think (Song For Freddie)"

1. Intro + Our Love Will Always Shine (R.Smith, N.Finbak)
2. Sometimes (C.Bosley, R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
3. New Zealand Bound (R.Smith, N.Finbak)
4. It Won't Be Long (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
5. I Wish I Didn't Have To Say Goodbye (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
6. We Will Live (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
7. Michigan (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
8. ...And I Think (Song For Freddie) (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
9. Mother Love (R.Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
10. Winter (R.Smith, N.Finbak)
11. Goodbye (Richard Anderson, R.Smith, N.Finbak)
12. Seascape (Instrumental) (R.Smith, N.Finbak)


Notes by Richard Anderson:
This collection has been 2 and a half years in the making (although technically it was only really worked on between other projects). Rob had always wanted to make a stripped back collection of songs with the vocals and piano being the main focus, so it was something special when Nils-Ole (aka Nilsy) came onboard and said he was up for it.

Rob and I had both seperately at different times had visions of working on projects that featured just vocals and piano - stripped back songs in essence, where the vocals and the words did all the talking, and the music sat back and just took the mind to different places. This was what lead to us working on this album with Nilsy, also we wanted to showcase what a remarkable piano player Nilsy is. I am personally rather touched by several of the songs on this album, I think they have shown a whole other side to our abilities as songwriters, working with the likes of Rob and Nilsy is something I never take for granted, so to have been so wonderfully represented here is a blessing.

GONE WILD - GONE WILD II (2009)

GONE WILD - GONE WILD II
Released May 2009
Released by Polar Music New Zealand / GONE WILD Productions
Produced by Rob Smith @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand
Chris Szkup's Guitars on "State Of Euphoria" & "Georgia Peach" Co-Produced by Bill McMartin @ Beyond Therapy Studio's, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Mastered by Rob Smith @ Polar Music New Zealand Studio's, Ratapiko, Taranaki, New Zealand

- Rob Smith (Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Programming)
- Richard Anderson (Vocals, Narrations)
- Matt Sturgess (Bass)
- Chris Szkup (Lead Guitars - "State Of Euphoria", "Georgia Peach" & "Bourbon Blues")
- Robin Wellaway (Sax - "Living On The Edge", "Legacy", "Is It Real?" & "In The Year Of The Blues")
- Nils-Ole Finbak (Piano - "Silent Tears", "If Only I Could Find The Words" & "In The Year Of The Blues")
- MC Hizzy (Rap - "Oblivion")
- Madame XXX (Spoken Intro - "Georgia Peach")
- Kenny Killz (Spoken Intro - "Once Bitten")
- Kayla Driskel (Children's Narrations - "Silent Tears")

Disc I:
1. Silent Tears (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, N.Finbak)
2. Rock This World (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
3. Immortal (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
4. Bitter Sweet (R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
5. Living On The Edge (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
6. Oblivion (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, MC Hizzy)
7. The Living Dead (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
8. Straightjackets (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
9. State Of Euphoria (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, C.Szkup)
10. Once Bitten (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
11. Legacy (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
12. My Good Addiction (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
13. The Death Of A Hero (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
14. Georgia Peach (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, C.Szkup)
15. De Ja Vu (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)

Disc II:
16. Thunder & Lightning (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
17. I Caught You Out (R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
18. Thicker (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
19. Is It Real? (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
20. Karma (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
21. Doesn't Really Matter (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
22. Rise Up (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
23. The Way Of The World (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
24. If Only I Could Find The Words (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, N.Finbak)
25. In The Year Of The Blues (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, N.Finbak)
26. Where Would We Be? (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
27. Bourbon Blues (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess, C.Szkup)
28. 21st Century Cool (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)
29. Wild Boy (R.Anderson, R.Smith, M.Sturgess)


Notes by Richard Anderson:
Matt and Nilsy were both pretty fired up after the release of the first GONE WILD album, both of them at different times jokingly said they were looking forward to doubling the efforts (Nilsy had actually mentioned a 3rd and 4th album as well).

Rob and I both took that to mean they were serious about continuing to ply away rocking out together, so we put our heads together and devised a plan to record a double album. Unfortunately during the writing of this album we had several personal upheavals (2 divorces, 1 death of a sister, 1 death of a father, 1 death of a beloved pet - and several musical heroes passing too). Nilsy was unable to direct his energies fulltime into writing and recording for this album, so we decided rather than wait - while the inspiration was running red hot we decided to plow on as a 3 piece. Rob handled the bulk of the musical composition (Matt handled the writing of his basslines, Rob and I teamed up on vocal arrangements on several tracks), and Rob and I both handled the lyrical content. In fact we wrote more songs than wound up on this album, and had dozens of lyrical and musical ideas floating around, some that may find their way to being used in the future.

Inspiration was never a problem when working on this album, but the time it took was something we have agreed we wouldn't want to have to go through again, although looking back personally I feel we have come up with the best set of tracks possible for this follow-up album. We tested ourselves with the production of this album, often coming up with songs in different genres that we hadn't thought we'd travel in - there is some metal, some rap and even some croony blues type things on this album - GONE WILD can never be accused of being one-dimensional that's for real.

I personally like the fact that we were able to put in some of our humour ("Rock This World", "Georgia Peach", "Bourbon Blues") alongside some rather thought provoking songs ("Silent Tears", "Bitter Sweet", "State Of Euphoria", "Legacy", "The Way Of The World"), overall as songwriters I think this album contains not only some of our best hooks and lyrics, but also some outstanding playing, we were motivated enough to try our hand at representing ourselves differently than we had on other projects we had worked on - thus making the 2 years of effort worthwhile in the end.