No Fences

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No Fences
Garth Brooks-No Fences (album cover).jpg
Studio album by Garth Brooks
Released August 27, 1990
Recorded Jack's Tracks Recording Studio, Nashville, TN, 1990
Genre Country
Length 38:29
Label Capitol Nashville
Producer Allen Reynolds
Garth Brooks chronology
Garth Brooks
(1989)Garth Brooks1989
No Fences
(1990)
Ropin' the Wind
(1991)Ropin' the Wind1991
Singles from No Fences
  1. "Friends in Low Places"
    Released: August 6, 1990
  2. "Unanswered Prayers"
    Released: October 1990
  3. "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House"
    Released: January 1991
  4. "The Thunder Rolls"
    Released: April 30, 1991
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
About.com 4/5 stars[1]
Allmusic 5/5 stars[2]
Entertainment Weekly A[3]
Robert Christgau (2-star Honorable Mention)[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4/5 stars[5]

No Fences is the second studio album by the American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released on August 27, 1990, and reached #1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. The album also reached #3 on the Billboard 200. On the latter chart it stayed in the top 40 for 126 weeks,[6] only one week less than Shania Twain's Come On Over, the Soundscan era's record holder. No Fences remains Brooks' best-selling studio album to date with 17 million copies shipped in the US,[7] and is the album that made him an international star. It was his first album issued in Europe (the original European release contained the four singles from his U.S. debut as bonus tracks).

Some of Brooks' most famous songs appear on No Fences, including: "The Thunder Rolls" (CMA's 1991 Video of the Year), "Friends in Low Places" (Academy of Country Music's 1990 Single of the Year), "Unanswered Prayers" and "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House". A cover version of The Fleetwoods' "Mr. Blue" appears on the album. The album itself was named Album of the Year by the ACM in 1990. It reached Number 1 on the British country music charts (earning Brooks his first gold album in that country) and remained charted for over five years.

The track "Victim of the Game" was later covered by Brooks's friend and future wife Trisha Yearwood for her 1991 eponymous debut album.

Brooks later re-recorded the track "Wild Horses", and released the new recording as a single in early 2001, reaching #7 on the country chart.

Track listing

  1. "The Thunder Rolls" (Pat Alger, Garth Brooks) – 3:42
  2. "New Way to Fly" (Kim Williams, Brooks) – 3:54
  3. "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" (Bobby Boyd, Warren Haynes, Dennis Robbins) – 2:31
  4. "Victim of the Game" (Mark D. Sanders, Brooks) – 3:06
  5. "Friends in Low Places" (Dewayne Blackwell, Earl "Bud" Lee) – 4:18
  6. "This Ain't Tennessee" (Jim Shaw, Larry Bastian) - 4:08A
  7. "Wild Horses" (Bill Shore, David Wills) – 3:08
  8. "Unanswered Prayers" (Alger, Larry Bastian, Brooks) – 3:23
  9. "Same Old Story" (Tony Arata) – 2:52
  10. "Mr. Blue" (Blackwell) – 3:16
  11. "Wolves" (Stephanie Davis) – 4:08

AThis track was not on the original release of the album. It first appeared when the album was re-released as part of Brooks' first Limited Series box set collection, and remained part of subsequent releases of the album until 2014, when it was released digitally for the first time.

Chart performance

No Fences peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and peaked at #1 on the Top Country Albums selling 238,000 copies, his first #1 Country album.

End of decade charts

Chart (1990–1999) Position
U.S. Billboard 200[13] 4

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Country US CAN Country UK
1990 "Friends in Low Places" 1 1 36
"Unanswered Prayers" 1 1
1991 "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" 1 1
"The Thunder Rolls" 1 1
2000 "Wild Horses" (re-recording) 7 50

Chart successions

Preceded by
"Talk To Me" by Frances Black
Irish Albums Chart
7 April 1994 – 5 May 1994 (4 weeks)
26 May 1994 - 16th June 1994 (3 weeks)
Succeeded by
"Talk To Me" by Frances Black
"Music for the Jilted Generation" by The Prodigy
Preceded by Top Country Albums number-one album
October 13 - November 24, 1990
Succeeded by
Heroes & Friends by Randy Travis
Preceded by
Heroes & Friends by Randy Travis
Top Country Albums number-one album
December 1–22, 1990
Succeeded by
Put Yourself in My Shoes by Clint Black
Preceded by
Put Yourself in My Shoes by Clint Black
Top Country Albums number-one album
February 9 - May 18, 1991
Succeeded by
Eagle When She Flies by Dolly Parton
Preceded by
Eagle When She Flies by Dolly Parton
Top Country Albums number-one album
May 25 - September 28, 1991
Succeeded by
Ropin' The Wind by Garth Brooks
Preceded by Top Country Albums number-one album of the year
1991
Succeeded by
Ropin' the Wind by Garth Brooks

Personnel

[14]

Musicians

  • Garth Brooks - guitar, vocals
  • Pat Alger - guitar, backing vocals
  • Bruce Bouton - steel guitar, backing vocals
  • Tim Bowers - bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Mark Casstevens - guitar
  • Mike Chapman - acoustic bass, backing vocals
  • Johnny Christopher - guitar
  • Ty England - acoustic guitar, backing vocals
  • Dave Gant - keyboards, fiddle, backing vocals
  • James Garver - electric guitar, backing vocals
  • Rob Hajacos - fiddle, backing vocals
  • Chris Leuzinger - guitar
  • Nashville String Machine - strings
  • Edgar Meyer - acoustic bass
  • Steve McClure - electric and steel guitars
  • Mike Palmer - drums, percussion
  • Brian Petree - vocals, stage manager
  • Milton Sledge - drums, acoustic bass
  • Bobby Wood - piano, keyboards, backing vocals

Backing and harmony vocalists

Friends in Low Places

  • Pat Alger
  • Al "Shaggy" Barclay
  • Dewayne Blackwell
  • Bruce Bouton
  • Tim Bowers
  • Sandy Brooks
  • Stephanie C. Brown
  • Mike Chapman
  • Bob Doyle
  • The Englands (plus one)
  • Dave Gant
  • Rob Hajacos
  • Joe Harris
  • Dan Heins
  • Rusty "Race Horse" Jones
  • Steve King
  • Earl of Bud Lee
  • Pam "The Chick" Lewis
  • Buddy Mondlock
  • Steve Morley
  • Mike "Palmerman"
  • Brian Petree
  • Dale Pierce
  • Jim Rooney
  • Tami Rose
  • Lee Sartin
  • Charlie Stefl
  • Scott Stem
  • Bobby Wood

Unanswered Prayers

  • Wendy Johnson
  • Jennifer O'Brien
  • Hurshel Wiginton
  • Curtis Young

Wolves

  • Indian River
    • David McVay
    • Stephen Tolman
    • Neil Thrasher
    • Curry Worsham

Production

  • Virginia Team - Art Direction
  • Denny Purcell - Mastering
  • Mary Beth Felts - Make-Up
  • Beverly Parker - Photography
  • Jerry Joyner - Design
  • Mark Miller - Mixing, Engineer
  • Dan Heins - Vocals, Audio Engineer
  • Joe Loesch - Special Effects

25th anniversary reissue

In September 2015, it was announced No Fences would be reissued later in the year to commemorate its 25-year release anniversary. The release would include a new version of "Friends in Low Places", featuring George Strait, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, and Keith Urban singing along with Brooks. The album release has since been delayed due to royalty disputes.[15]

See also

References

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  6. Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Albums, 3rd edition, Billboard Books, 1995, p. 46.
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  8. http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Garth+Brooks&titel=No+Fences&cat=a
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