Fear is the first of Cale's three studio albums for Island Records, all of which were released in a period of just over a year. During this time Cale was also producing records for other artists, working on albums such as Horses by Patti Smith, one of the most influential of all proto-punk records. In addition to his lead vocals on Fear, Cale also played keyboards, guitars, viola, violin and bass, and was joined by Fairport Convention's Richard Thompson, Roxy Music's Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera, and other artists who were signed to Island at the time. "Gun" features an unusual two-man guitar solo from Manzanera and Eno, with the latter using a synthesizer to process the former's guitar playing in real-time. The promotional album for Fear released by Island Records contained an interview with Cale. He announced an adaption of the William Blake poem "Jerusalem", and cover versions of the songs "Girl from the North Country" by Bob Dylan, "Eight Miles High" by the Byrds and "I Can See for Miles" by the Who. The cover photography was by Keith Morris.
Release
Fear was released on 1 October 1974. "The Man Who Couldn't Afford to Orgy" b/w "Sylvia Said" was released as a single. The album was remastered in 1996 as part of the 2CD release The Island Years, containing also both Slow Dazzle and Helen of Troy. It contained "Sylvia Said " as a bonus track. The single version of "Sylvia Said" remained unissued on CD as of 2018.
Critical reception
Trouser Press called it "a brilliant record full of neat surprises and great, unsettling songs." Crawdaddy said the album was "in many ways a patchwork of past. His motif, as defined on Paris 1919, remains clean, compact, clever melodies, written and produced with a clear understanding of the subtle nuances of mood the simplest of chord structures and breaks can evoke. But the extravagant orchestration which characterized the last solo album has been largely abandoned in favor of a sparser, more barren sound, with just the barest backing essentials augmenting Cale's vocals." Mick Gold said: "Cale has the voice of a chameleon. It's never great singing but his deadpan Welsh-American accent gives it just the right edge. His music has broadened its range whilst also sounding more pared-down. And at least five songs on this album stand equal tothe best songs of the 70s. I think it's self-evident from Paris and Fear that Cale's work is more original and more enjoyable than the albums being put out by a dozen better-known artists."
Track listing
Personnel
Adapted from the Fear liner notes.
John Cale – lead vocals; bass guitar; guitar; keyboards; viola
Phil Manzanera – guitar; slide guitar on "Momamma Scuba"
