''Fear'' (commonly stylized as ''fear'') is the third studio album by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Toad the Wet Sprocket Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Barbara, California, in 1986. The band at the time consisted of vocalist/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss, ...

. The album is their second album for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, 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 ''Billboards 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 "Walk on the Ocean" is a song by American alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket from their third studio album, ''Fear'' (1991). Two different versions of the song were released: the album version with a cold ending (timed at 2:59) and the ...

" which peaked at #15 and #18 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, respectively.

Background

Toad the Wet Sprocket's first album, ''

Bread & Circus ''Bread & Circus'' is the debut album by American alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket, originally self-released on cassette in 1988, and re-released in 1989 by Columbia Records. In May 2009, the band announced plans to re-release ''Bread ...

'', 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

after recording their second album, ''

Pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...

''. 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

The songs for the album were recorded at Granny's House,

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. ''fear'' was produced, recorded and mixed by Gavin MacKillop, a role he would reprise for the band's next two releases, 1994's ''

Dulcinea Dulcinea del Toboso is a fictional character who is unseen in Miguel de Cervantes' novel ''Don Quijote''. Don Quijote believes he must have a lady, under the mistaken view that chivalry requires it. As he does not have one, he invents her, mak ...

'' 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 ''In Light Syrup'' is an album of B-sides and rare tracks by American alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket, released in 1995. ''In Light Syrup'' was RIAA Certified In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIA ...

'', 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

Personnel

Musicians

* Glen Phillips – lead vocals, guitars, mandolin *

Todd Nichols Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Barbara, California, in 1986. The band at the time consisted of vocalist/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss, ...

– guitars, mandolin *

Dean Dinning Toad the Wet Sprocket is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Barbara, California, in 1986. The band at the time consisted of vocalist/guitarist Glen Phillips, guitarist Todd Nichols, bassist Dean Dinning, and drummer Randy Guss ...

– bass, keyboards *

Randy Guss Randel "Randy" Guss (born March 7, 1967) is an American musician and drummer. He was best known as the drummer for the band Toad the Wet Sprocket from its formation in 1986 until he stopped touring in 2017 and left the band in 2020. Career G ...

– drums, percussion *Laurel Franklin – spoken word, additional vocals

Production

*Produced by Gavin MacKillop *Engineered by Don Evans, Gavin MacKillop & Bjorn Thorsrud *Mixed by Gavin MacKillop

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1991 albums Toad the Wet Sprocket albums Columbia Records albums Pop rock albums by American artists