No Fences is one of the best albums that Garth Brooks has ever created. He managed to record an album that appealed not only to his normal country listeners, but the pop crowd as well. This is shown through the album's sales and numerous number one hit singles. The title of this album shows off Garth's ability to not be pinned down to any one type of music style. This is shown by contrasting "Friends in Low Places" with "Thunder Rolls". While "Friends in Low Places" is a fun and energetic song to be played in a local country bar, "Thunder Rolls" has a much more serious and somber tone because it is about a cheating husband.

While there is no question that Garth is a country artist (in fact many consider him to be THE country artist), he also tries to tie in other sounds from other genres into his music. This is evident in his number #1 single of all time, "Friends in Low Places". He combines his tried and true county sound with a lead guitar, piano, and a violin to create a catchy tune that almost anyone can enjoy.

The main reason Garth is as big an artist as he is because of his voice. He can make you cry and be overjoyed all with his voice in a matter of minutes. The song "Unanswered Prayers" is about how lucky he was to have his initial prayers of love unanswered, because it lead to him finding true love and his wife. While listening to the song, you cannot help but feel the passion that he does while he sings.

Country music changed forever in 1989, led by Clint Black with his hugely successful debut album that spawned several number one country hits. Garth started at the same time as Clint but his debut album, while also very successful, didn't do as well as Clint's album at the time. With his second album (this one), Garth took country music to a level of popularity never previously known and became its leading star for much of the nineties. Indeed, Garth outsold all pop singers in America for a few years. I don't know how many copies this particular album has sold but I know it passed the ten million mark long ago. I was one of the early purchasers but, brilliant as it is, I never expected it to become that popular.

The four big American hits are The thunder rolls, Two of a kind working on a full house, Friends in low places and Unanswered prayers. None of these songs made the UK charts. Garth was unable to reproduce his American success in Britain although he eventually made the UK top twenty with a song from a later album. Friends in low places is a classic lightweight drinking song that Mark Chesnutt recorded at around the same time. More dramatic and equally brilliant is The thunder rolls, about a woman waiting for a man to come home safely during a stormy night - he does but she realizes that he's been cheating. Another classic is Unanswered prayers, in which Garth shows his gratitude for not having his old prayers answered, preferring his wife to an old flame. Sadly, Garth and his wife eventually went their separate ways some years later. Two of a kind working on a full house uses a poker game analogy to describe a couple in love although it makes no mention of a family, which you might expect from the title

Quite apart from the hits, there are other great songs here including New way to fly (about people looking for love that lasts), Victim of the game (about cheating), Wild horses (about a man's love of rodeo), Same old story (about a one-sided love), Mr Blue (a cover of a fifties pop song) and Wolves (about rural hardship - this song is by the brilliant but obscure singer-songwriter Stephanie Davis).

If you enjoy Garth's music, you should definitely buy this album, which is a classic.

After his chilly self-titled debut, GB struck gold with this album. The big hit off this disc, 'The Thunder Rolls', is indeed one of his best songs, but 'Friends In Low Places' is a overrated track that he wouldn't have touched five or six years into his career. 'Unanswered Prayers' will not stand the test of time, just very dull and brooding. But most of the other tracks off the disc are great and cite the traditional country root.