No Fences [Bonus Track] (CD - 1990)

Personnel includes: Garth Brooks (vocals); Chris Leuzinger (acoustic & electric guitars); Pat Alger (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Johnny Christopher, Mark Casstevens (acoustic guitar); Bruce Bouton (steel guitar, background vocals); Rob Hajacos (fiddle, background vocals); Bobby Wood (acoustic & electric pianos, keyboards, background vocals); Edgar Meyer (acoustic bass); Milton Sledge (bass, drums); Mike Chapman (bass, background vocals); Trisha Yearwood, Wendy Johnson, Jennifer O'Brien, Hurshel Wiginton, Curtis Young, Dewayne Blackwell, Tim Bowers, Sandy Brooks, Jim Rooney, Stephanie C. Brown, Tami Rose, The Englands (background vocals).

Nashville String Machine: George Binkley III, John Borg, Carl Gorodetzky, Lee Larrison, Dennis Molchan, Pamela Sixfin, Mark Tanner, Gary Vanosdale, Kristin Wilkinson.

Recorded at Jack's Tracks Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee.

Digitally remastered by Denny Purcell (Georgetown Masters).

Garth Brooks was the winner of the 1990 Country Music Association's Horizon Award, given to a new artist with the most potential of devloping into a major star.

Personnel: Garth Brooks (vocals, background vocals); James Garver (vocals, guitar, fiddle); Pat Alger, Ty England (vocals, acoustic guitar); Bruce Bouton (vocals, steel guitar); Dave Gant (vocals, fiddle, keyboards); Rob Hajacos (vocals, fiddle); Bobby Wood (vocals, piano, electric piano, keyboards); Tim Bowers (vocals, bass guitar); Jennifer O'Brien, Curtis Young, Trisha Yearwood, Hurshel Wiginton (vocals, background vocals); DeWayne Blackwell, Earl of Bud Lee, Curry Worsham, Al "Shaggy" Barclay, Tami Rose, Pam "The Chick" Lewis, Stephen Tolman, Dale Pierce, Lee Sartin, Sandy Brooks, Stephanie C. Brown, Dan Heins, Scott Stem, Englands, David McVay, Steve Morley, Rusty Jones , Brian Petree, Joe Harris, Jim Rooney, Mike Chapman , Neil Thrasher, Steven King, Buddy Mondlock (vocals); Chris Leuzinger (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Johnny Christopher, Mark Casstevens (acoustic guitar); Steve McClure (electric guitar, steel guitar); Kristin Wilkson, Dennis Molchan, John Borg, Kristin Wilkinson, Nashville String Machine, George Binkley III, Mark Tanner, Carl Gorodetzky, Pamela Sixfin, Lee Larrison, Gary VanOsdale, Charles Cochran (strings); Edgar Meyer (upright bass); Mike Palmer (drums, percussion); Milton Sledge (drums); Wendy Suits Johnson (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Mark Miller .

Recording information: Jack's Tracks Recording Studio, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Beverly Parker.

Arranger: Charles Cochran.

The Bruce Springsteen of Nashville. A country purist's nightmare. The savior of modern country. Brooks wears many hats (all of them cowboy), but as his legions of fans will tell you without provocation, he turned the '90s country music industry around, damn near single-handed. His mixture of honky-tonk, rock & roll and radio-friendly power balladry struck a chord with middle America, and earned him the contemporary country crown. NO FENCES is seminal Garth, the perfect place to start for a novice, and an indispensable item for any Brooks fan. It features both Brooks' thoughtful side (the intelligently-crafted cheating song "The Thunder Rolls) and his rocking, celebratory side (the proudly proletariat "Friends In Low Places," which would do Hank Jr. proud).

Essentially, Garth Brooks's second album, No Fences, follows the same pattern as his debut, but it is a more assured and risky record. Brooks still performs neo-traditional country, such as the honky tonk hit "Friends in Low Places," but now he twists it around with clever pop hooks. Those pop/rock influences are most apparent on the ballads, which alternate between sensitive folk-rock and power ballad bombast. But what makes No Fences such a success is how seamlessly he blends the two seemingly opposing genres, and how he chooses a set of material that makes his genre-bending sound subtle and natural. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the songs are consistently entertaining, either. [Brooks re-released the album in 2000, adding the track "This Ain't Tennessee."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize