Ranking Garth Brooks’ phenomenal top five albums

2 - Ropin’ The Wind (1991)

In second place this album has Brooks as an absolute master of the country music genre while intertwining rock themes. He is now starting to take country music to a new place. As his third studio album, It’s relatively early in his music career but sets the tone for what's to follow. 

The album aimed to deliver a mix of songs, similar to a live performance. Sure enough, there are ballads like “What's She Doing Now” and “Burning Bridges” mixed in with the energy and pace of “Against the Grain” and “Rodeo”. Classic Brooks song “The River” is a high point and another number-one single. The album has plenty more to offer with the deep cuts standing up just as well as the five singles released from it.

Again this album debuted at number one on Billboard 200 and the Top Country Albums chart. Ropin’ The Wind has notched up over 14m sales in the US alone. It’s Brooks' second biggest seller and deservedly so. 

1 - No Fences (1990)

It's not enough to describe a Brooks album as a huge seller when he has sold so many overall and has nine diamond status releases (so far). No Fences has 18 times platinum status in the US alone. Given it was only his second studio album that's quite a marker to set down.

Five singles were released from No Fences, and four hit number one, and the fifth was a top ten hit. They included another classic Brooks song, "Friends In Low Places”, which is often seen as a signature song for him. Brooks himself reckons it represents him and his music completely. 

This was the album that really set up Brooks to be a global superstar, I won’t use the word country in that description as it tends to bracket him slightly. He is the top album-selling solo artist irrespective of genre. And ranks second, behind The Beatles, when groups are added in. This brilliant album packed with great songs is a massive part of that success. That all takes it to the top spot in this ranking of Brooks’ albums. 

Read more from AudioPhix