Fear (commonly stylized as fear) is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket. The album is their second album for Columbia Records, and was released on August 27, 1991. It became the first commercially successful album for the band, selling over a million copies and was certified platinum three years after release, on September 1, 1994. The album reached #49 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums in September 1992. Two of the album's singles charted in the US top 40, "All I Want" and "Walk on the Ocean" which peaked at #15 and #18 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively.
| Fear | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 27, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | January 2–27, 1991 | |||
| Studio | Granny's House in Reno, Nevada | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 46:37 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Gavin MacKillop | |||
| Toad the Wet Sprocket chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from fear | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
Background
editToad the Wet Sprocket's first album, Bread & Circus, was financed and recorded by the band in eight days for $650 in 1989. The band sold copies of the album on cassette, eventually signing with Columbia Records after recording their second album, Pale. Despite an offer from Columbia to restart the sessions for Pale, the band decided to continue to record the album by themselves at a cost of $6,000, and re-release it with Columbia.
Recording
editThe songs for the album were recorded at Granny's House, Reno, Nevada.[1] fear was produced, recorded and mixed by Gavin MacKillop, a role he would reprise for the band's next two releases, 1994's Dulcinea and 1997's Coil.
Columbia financed the mixing of fourteen songs for the album, with twelve to be released. The two songs left off the album, "Good Intentions" and "All in All", were both released on the 1995 rarities collection In Light Syrup, along with several other tracks recorded during the fear sessions. The band members were in disagreement over "All in All" and "All I Want", and eventually "All I Want" was chosen to complete the record.
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Toad. However, the liner notes give first and second credits to various members track by track. These differences are noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Walk on the Ocean" | Glen Phillips, Todd Nichols | 3:00 |
| 2. | "Is It for Me?" | Phillips, Nichols | 3:24 |
| 3. | "Butterflies" | Phillips, Nichols | 4:26 |
| 4. | "Nightingale Song" | Phillips | 2:03 |
| 5. | "Hold Her Down" | Phillips, Nichols | 3:07 |
| 6. | "Pray Your Gods" | Phillips | 5:03 |
| 7. | "Before You Were Born" | Phillips | 3:44 |
| 8. | "Something to Say" | Phillips | 4:02 |
| 9. | "In My Ear" | Phillips, Nichols | 3:10 |
| 10. | "All I Want" | Phillips | 3:17 |
| 11. | "Stories I Tell" | Phillips, Nichols | 5:35 |
| 12. | "I Will Not Take These Things for Granted" | Phillips | 5:46 |
Personnel
editMusicians
edit- Glen Phillips – lead vocals, guitars, mandolin
- Todd Nichols – guitars, mandolin
- Dean Dinning – bass, keyboards
- Randy Guss – drums, percussion
- Laurel Franklin – spoken word, additional vocals
Production
edit- Produced by Gavin MacKillop
- Engineered by Don Evans, Gavin MacKillop & Bjorn Thorsrud
- Mixed by Gavin MacKillop
Charts
edit| Chart (1992/93) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[3] | 179 |
| US Billboard 200[4] | 49 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[5] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ a b Kyle, Joseph (June 1, 2015). "I Will Not Take These Things For Granted: The Making of Toad The Wet Sprocket's Fear". The Recoup.
- ^ a b McCarteny, Kelly. "Fear - Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
- ^ "Toad the Wet Sprocket ARIA Chart History complete to 2024". ARIA. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
- ^ "Toad the Wet Sprocket Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ "American album certifications – Toad the Wet Sprocket – Fear". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 19, 2021.