No Fences

***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, 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, 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.

## Background

Brooks commented on this album, saying:
_"No Fences definitely, hands down would be the people's favorite album that we have done so far. It's by far our biggest selling album. With songs like Friends In Low Places, Two of a Kind, Unanswered Prayers, and especially The Thunder Rolls with all the attention it got with the video situation that it went through. It's probably not surprising that this is the biggest selling album of our collection. The number that we have sold surprises me to death, and this is a good time for me to say thanks to those people who have it. To those people who might be thinking about getting Fences, if you do, I hope that you don't feel like you've been let down. It's an album that I stand by, I'm very proud of. An album that I pull out from time to time and listen and hold my head up and say, yeah I'll still stand by it."_

## Track listing

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

<sup>A</sup>This 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.

### Charts

|Charts (1990 to 1994)|Peak position|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="left"|Australian Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|11|
|align="left"|Canadian _RPM_ Top Albums|style="text-align:center;"|49|
|align="left"|Canadian _RPM_ Country Albums|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|align="left"|European Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|69|
|align="left"|Irish Albums Chart|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|align="left"|U.S. _Billboard_ 200|style="text-align:center;"|3|
|align="left"|U.S. _Billboard_ Top Country Albums|style="text-align:center;"|1|

### Sales and certifications

|Region|Provider|Certification|Sales/Shipments||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Australia|style="text-align:center;"|ARIA|Platinum|70,000|
|Canada|style="text-align:center;"|CRIA|7x Platinum|700,000+|
|Ireland|style="text-align:center;"|IRMA|5x Platinum|75,000|
|United States|style="text-align:center;"|RIAA|17x Platinum|17,000,000|
|**World-Wide**|||**17,845,000+**||

### End of decade charts

|Chart (1990–1999)|Position||
| --- | --- | --- |
|U.S. _Billboard_ 200|style="text-align:center;"|4|

### Singles

|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2"|Single|colspan="4"|Peak chart positions|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="2"|1990|style="text-align:left;"|"Friends in Low Places"|1|—|1|36|
|style="text-align:left;"|"Unanswered Prayers"|1|—|1|—|||
|rowspan="2"|1991|style="text-align:left;"|"Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House"|1|—|1|—|
|style="text-align:left;"|"The Thunder Rolls"|1|—|1|—|||
|2000|style="text-align:left;"|"Wild Horses" <small>(re-recording)</small>|7|50|—|—||

### Musicians

- Garth Brooks - guitar, vocals
- Pat Alger - guitar, backing vocals
- Bruce Bouton - steel 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

## Infobox (album)

- **name**: No Fences
- **type**: studio
- **artist**: Garth Brooks
- **released**: August 27, 1990
- **recorded**: Jack's Tracks Recording Studio, Nashville, TN, 1990
- **genre**: Country music, Country
- **length**: 38:29
- **label**: Capitol Records Nashville, Capitol Nashville
- **producer**: Allen Reynolds
- **prev title**: Garth Brooks (album), Garth Brooks
(1989)
- **next title**: Ropin' the Wind
(1991)