Track Listing

1. Calling to You
2. Down to the Sea
3. Come into My Life
4. I Believe
5. 29 Palms
6. Memory Song (Hello Hello)
7. If I Were a Carpenter
8. Promised Land
9. Greatest Gift
10. Great Spirit
11. Network News
12. Colours of a Shade
13. Great Spirit [Acoustic Mix]
14. Rollercoaster [#][Demo Version]
15. 8.05
16. Dark Moon [Acoustic]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12982 in Music
• Released on: 2007-03-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Album Description
1993's FATE OF NATIONS features a cooler, quieter sound, tapping into Plant's love for folk music and history as well as Eastern chromatics, and displayed a socially conscious mindset. Stand-out songs include "29 Palms," "Calling To You," "I Believe," and "Come Into My Life," featuring Clannad's Maire Brennan on vocals and Richard Thompson on guitar. Five bonus rarities include acoustic versions of "Dark Moon," and "Great Spirit" as well as the demo version of "Rollercoaster."

Customer Reviews

Great stuff by a fine singer
This is a mature, ecletic album that does not neglect the glorious past of Plant ("Calling to You" is a heavy rock-middle eastern opus not unlike "Kashmir" and "Promised Land" has Zepp all over the place)but the singer/composer here has the time, good material and great arrangements to display many sides of his considerable talent. Plant's voice definitely is not as phenomenal as ii was in the early Zepp-days, but in this album he sounds particularly warm and effective. My girlfriend, who does not know about Led Zeppelin, considered his voice "sexy" so I guess the old lemon-squeezer's charms were still effective in this album...
Many good moments in this album - the violin coda of "Calling to you" is quite thrilling, the terrific balads "Greatest Gift" and "Great Spirit", the pop perfection of "29 Palms" and "I Believe", the sensuos slow-burning "Come into my life"... It is a great album for a more mature audience.

one of plant's best; remaster is fantastic
I've always thought this disc is one of Robert Plant's best solo efforts (Dreamland and Mighty Rearranger are great too). It all came together on "Fate of Nations": Plant's voice, Eastern influences, guitar power chords, great hooks, wonderful melodies....

The remastered version is worth picking up, even if you have the earlier version of the CD. The biggest reason for me is the improved sound. Plant's voice gains clarity, great separation in the guitar parts, an added punch that was missing on the original release. In addition, there are some good bonus tracks, and amazon's price is great.

Highest of recommendations

A good, earthy album
Fate of Nations, Robert Plant's sixth studio album, was released in 1993. The songwriting is solid, the musicianship is skilled, and the sound quality is worthy. The material is in a pop rock musical direction. The 11 tracks have an earthy sound. In comparison with the guitar work, keyboards are used to a lesser extent. Plant does well with the vocals. He also performs a cover of the Tim Hardin tune "If I Were a Carpenter." Though I like all the songs, the ones I enjoy the most are "I Believe," "The Greatest Gift," and "Great Spirit." The skillfully tailored "I Believe," one of my favorite compositions from Plant, is pretty. The well-crafted piece "The Greatest Gift" displays an impressive beginning which consists of resonating guitar playing and a nice string arrangement. "Great Spirit" is melodious. "Calling to You"--the opening cut--is textured, exotic, and features attractive violin work. The pleasant "Come into My Life" exhibits smooth, charming female backing vocals. The CD booklet includes the song lyrics to only "Great Spirit" and the closing track "Network News." Information is given on who plays and what is played on the cuts. Environmental data with four corresponding color photos are included. There is a black-and-white photo of Plant. Two identical color illustrations, one on the backcover of the CD booklet and the other on the back of the CD jewel case, are displayed that look similar to the interesting album cover artwork. The disc is almost 59 minutes. Fate of Nations is a tight, cohesive album.