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.