The Great War (Sabaton album)

The Great War is the ninth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton. It was released on 19 July 2019.[2][3] It is the first studio album to feature guitarist Tommy Johansson.[4] Like many of Sabaton's albums, it is a concept album, this time about World War I, often known as The Great War.

The Great War
Studio album by Sabaton
Released	19 July 2019
Genre	Heavy metal, power metal[1]
Length	38:27
Label	Nuclear Blast
Sabaton chronology
The Last Stand (2016) The Great War (2019)
Singles from The Great War
"Fields of Verdun" Released: 3 May 2019 "The Red Baron" Released: 13 June 2019 "Great War" Released: 27 June 2019 "82nd All the Way" Released: 20 July 2019 "The Attack of the Dead Men (feat. Radio Tapok)" Released: 10 May 2020

The album's first single, "Fields of Verdun", was released on 3 May 2019.[5] The album's next single, "The Red Baron" was released on 13 June.[6] The title song, "Great War", was released as a single on 27 June.[7] A music video for the track "82nd All the Way" was released on 20 July.[8] A music video for "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", in which Indy Neidell plays the role of T. E. Lawrence, was filmed in the Tunisian desert in early September,[9] and was released on 21 December.[10] A live video and single for "The Attack of the Dead Men", recorded during a 13 March 2020 performance in Moscow that included Russian-language metal cover artist Radio Tapok singing the verses, were announced 8 May 2020 for a 10 July release.[11]

The album was released in four separate editions: the standard release,[12] a history edition with contextual narration preceding each track,[13] a soundtrack edition featuring instrumental orchestral versions of the songs,[14] and a Sabaton History Patreon exclusive release containing narration by Indy Neidell.[15]

Reception

The Great War garnered mostly positive reviews. Metal Hammer's Holly Wright gave it 4/5 stars, praising it as "a rip-roaring, riff-addled march towards victory, coaxing influences from folk and power metal that sounds remarkably upbeat for an account of bloodthirsty mass destruction."[16] The Guardian's Dave Simpson rated the album 3/5 stars and said he preferred the History version, which precedes the songs with voiceovers describing the events the songs are about.[17]

Mistakes

The recorded lyrics for "82nd All the Way" mistakenly attribute Sergeant Alvin York to the 338th Regiment rather than his actual assignment to the 328th Infantry Regiment.[18] The band corrects the mistake during live performances of the song.[19]

Cover versions

On May 1, 2019, Apocalyptica released their rendition of "Fields of Verdun".[20]

On 18 July 2019, YouTube-based cover artist Radio Tapok released a Russian-language cover of "The Attack of the Dead Men" with Sabaton's assistance.[21] Radio Tapok joined Sabaton on stage in Moscow the following spring during their Russian tour (cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after). The performance was recorded and produced as a single for a 10 July 2020 release.[11]

On January 3, 2020, Amaranthe released their rendition of "82nd All the Way".[22]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Theme	Length
1.	"The Future of Warfare"	Joakim Brodén	Brodén	Tanks in the Battles of Flers-Courcelette and Villers-Bretonneux	3:26
2.	"Seven Pillars of Wisdom"	Brodén	Chris Rörland · Brodén	T. E. Lawrence	3:02
3.	"82nd All the Way"	Brodén · Pär Sundström	Rörland · Brodén	Alvin York	3:31
4.	"The Attack of the Dead Men"	Brodén	Rörland · Brodén	Attack of the Dead Men	3:56
5.	"Devil Dogs"	Sundström	Brodén	US Marines at the Battle of Belleau Wood	3:17
6.	"The Red Baron"	Brodén	Brodén	Manfred von Richthofen	3:22
7.	"Great War"	Sundström	Brodén · Viktor Carlsson	Suffering in World War I, specifically, in the Battle of Passchendaele	4:28
8.	"A Ghost in the Trenches"	Brodén	Tommy Johansson · Brodén	Francis Pegahmagabow	3:26
9.	"Fields of Verdun"	Brodén · Sundström	Thobbe Englund · Brodén	The Battle of Verdun	3:17
10.	"The End of the War to End All Wars"	Brodén	Tommy Johansson [23] · Brodén	The Casualties and Armistice of World War I	4:45
11.	"In Flanders Fields"	John McCrae	Brodén	A poem by John McCrae	1:57
Total length:					38:27

Personnel

Band members

• Joakim Brodén – lead vocals, keyboards
• Pär Sundström – bass, backing vocals
• Chris Rörland – guitars, backing vocals
• Tommy Johannson – guitars, backing vocals
• Hannes van Dahl – drums, backing vocals

Guest musicians

• Thobbe Englund – guitar solo on "Fields of Verdun"[24]
• Antti Martikainen – orchestral arrangements on "Fields of Verdun", orchestral arrangements for the Soundtrack Edition[25]
• Floor Jansen – additional vocals, vocals on Soundtrack Edition
• Bethan Dixon Bate - narration on History Edition
• Indy Neidell - narration on History Channel Edition

Production

• Jonas Kjellgren – production, engineering, mixing
• Maor Appelbaum – mastering engineer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2019) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 7 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[27] 3 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28] 3 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[29] 19 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[30] 24 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[31] 7 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 13 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[33] 3 French Albums (SNEP)[34] 40 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[35] 1 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[36] 10 Italian Albums (FIMI)[37] 50 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[38] 74 Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[39] 26 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[40] 4 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[41] 3 Scottish Albums (OCC)[42] 6 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[43] 12 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[44] 1 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[45] 1 UK Albums (OCC)[46] 11 US Billboard 200[47] 42 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[48] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[49] 64 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[50] 86 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[51] 76 Chart (2020) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[52] 188 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[53] 89

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Poland (ZPAV)[54]	Gold	10,000
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

1. Flynn, Niki. "Sabaton - "The Great War" [Album Review]". puregrainaudio.com. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
2. "This Is The Great War!". Sabaton.
3. "SABATON 'The Great War' Album Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
4. "Sabaton welcome new guitarist Tommy Johansson". Metal Hammer. 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
5. "Sabaton Debut 'Fields of Verdun' Music Video". Loudwire. May 3, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
6. "Sabaton: Lyric Video For New Song 'The Red Baron'". Blabbermouth.net. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
7. "Great War - 3rd single - Out now - Watch & Listen". Sabaton.net. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
8. Munro, Scott (22 July 2019). "Sabaton share striking lyric video for 82nd All The Way". Louder Sound. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
9. Munro, Scott (2 September 2019). "Sabaton injured in car crash in Tunisia". Louder Sound. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
10. Munro, Scott (22 December 2019). "Watch Sabaton traverse the Sahara desert in video for Seven Pillars Of Wisdom". Louder Sound. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
11. "SABATON - release live version of 'The Attack Of The Dead Men' featuring RADIO TAPOK + announce new tour dates for Russia and Belarus!". Nuclear Blast. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
12. "SABATON - the great war".
13. "SABATON - the great war HISTORY EDITION".
14. "Sabaton - The Soundtrack To The Great War (Nuclear Blast Records)". geni.us. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk-VN_PjZyg&ab_channel=SabatonHistory
16. Wright, Holly (19 July 2019). "Sabaton: The Great War review". Metal Hammer. Louder Sound. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
17. Simpson, Dave (19 July 2019). "Sabaton: The Great War review − rage against the war machine". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
18. "82nd All The Way - Lyrics". Sabaton.net. Sabaton. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
19. "Wacken 2019: Sabaton". MagentaMusik 360. Deutsche Telekom. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
20. "Apocalyptica - Fields of Verdun (Sabaton cover)". May 1, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
21. "Sabaton - The Attack of the Dead Men". 18 July 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
22. "AMARANTHE - 82nd All The Way (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)". January 3, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
23. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-p2hJppuDZ/?hl=fr
24. "Thorbjörn Englund on Instagram: 'Check it out!!! #sabaton #fieldsofverdun'". Retrieved 2019-05-05 – via Instagram.
25. "New Sabaton album with my arrangements". Retrieved 2019-06-29 – via Antti Martikainen - Official Home Page.
26. "Australiancharts.com – Sabaton – The Great War". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
27. "Austriancharts.at – Sabaton – The Great War" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
28. "Ultratop.be – Sabaton – The Great War" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
29. "Ultratop.be – Sabaton – The Great War" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
30. "Sabaton Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
31. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201930,31 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
32. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sabaton – The Great War" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
33. "Sabaton: Great War" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
34. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 30, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
35. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sabaton – The Great War" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
36. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2019. 30. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
37. "Italiancharts.com – Sabaton – The Great War". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
38. "Sabaton". Oricon. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
39. "Savaitės klausomiausi (TOP 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
40. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sabaton – The Great War". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
41. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
42. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
43. "Spanishcharts.com – Sabaton – The Great War". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
44. "Swedishcharts.com – Sabaton – The Great War". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
45. "Swisscharts.com – Sabaton – The Great War". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
46. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
47. "Sabaton Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
48. "Sabaton Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
49. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
50. "Årslista Album, 2019". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
51. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2019". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
52. "Jaaroverzichten 2020". Ultratop. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
53. "Årslista Album, 2020". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
54. "Polish album certifications – Sabaton – The Great War" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 October 2020.