The Art of War (Sabaton album)
The Art of War is the fourth album by Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton.
| The Art of War | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 30, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | September 2007 - January 2008, The Abyss (recording studio), Sweden | |||
| Genre | Power metal | |||
| Length | 49:28 | |||
| Label | Black Lodge Records | |||
| Producer | Sabaton, Tommy & Peter Tägtgren | |||
| Sabaton chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Art of War | ||||
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| Re-Armed edition | ||||
 Front cover of the 2010 reissue | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Jukebox:Metal | |
| Encyclopaedia Metallum |  |
| Metal Storm | |
The album is based on the ancient Chinese military treatise, The Art of War written by General Sun Tzu in the 6th Century BC. It consists of 13 chapters, each of which describe a different aspect of warfare, and is considered the definitive work on military tactics and strategies of its time. The tracks on the album correspond to each chapter of treatise. The lyrics of the songs are about famous battles or war, mostly based on the battles of the First and Second World Wars where Sun Tzu's tactics were applied.[5]
Production
The Swedish national anthem from Sweden Rock '09 (found on the Re-Armed edition) was the only song on which bassist Pär Sundström has contributed vocals until 2012, when the line-up change required Sundström to step up to the microphone on a more permanent basis.
Spoken quotes from Sun Tzu's The Art of War can be heard in songs such as "Sun Tzu Says", "The Art of War", "Unbreakable", "The Nature of Warfare", "The Price of a Mile", "Firestorm", "Cliffs of Gallipoli" and "A Secret". These quotes are taken from LibriVox's audiobook version of the book, which follows the Lionel Giles translation.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Theme | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sun Tzu Says" | A short introduction to Sun Tzu's Art of War | 0:23 | ||
| 2. | "Ghost Division" | Brodén, Sundström | Brodén | Erwin Rommel and the 7th Panzer Division | 3:51 |
| 3. | "The Art of War" | Brodén | Brodén | Sun Tzu's "Attack By Stratagem" | 5:08 |
| 4. | "40:1" | Brodén, Sundström | Brodén | The Battle of Wizna | 4:10 |
| 5. | "Unbreakable" | Brodén, Sundström | Brodén | Guerrilla warfare. Brodén and Sundström had a particular guerrilla ambush in mind, but have forgotten which one.[6] | 5:58 |
| 6. | "The Nature of Warfare" | Sun Tzu's "Weak Points and Strong" | 1:18 | ||
| 7. | "Cliffs of Gallipoli" | Brodén, Sundström | Brodén | The Gallipoli Campaign | 5:51 |
| 8. | "Talvisota" | Sundström | Brodén | The Finnish Winter War | 3:32 |
| 9. | "Panzerkampf" | Brodén, Sundström | Brodén | The Battle of Kursk | 5:15 |
| 10. | "Union (Slopes of St. Benedict)" | Brodén, Sundström | Brodén | The Italian campaign and the Battle of Monte Cassino | 4:05 |
| 11. | "The Price of a Mile" | Brodén, Sundström | Brodén | The Battle of Passchendaele and senseless slaughter of World War I in general | 5:55 |
| 12. | "Firestorm" | Brodén, Sundström | Brodén | The strategic bombing campaigns of World War II | 3:25 |
| 13. | "A Secret" | A humorous outro addressing music piracy | 0:37 | ||
| Total length: | 49:28 | ||||
| No. | Title | Theme | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Swedish Pagans" | The Vikings | 4:13 |
| 15. | "Glorious Land" | A song about military forces defending their homeland | 3:19 |
| 16. | "The Art of War" | Pre-production demo version | 4:48 |
| 17. | "Swedish National Anthem (Live At Sweden Rock Festival)" | Swedish National Anthem | 2:34 |
| Total length: | 14:54 | ||
Different versions
The Art of War was released in three different versions, a standard edition containing only the CD, a vinyl version and a Limited Edition. The limited contains the full-length CD and the book The Art of War by Sun Tzu. The limited edition comes in a DVD case with alternate artwork. All preorders from the official Sabaton homepage also included the single, Cliffs of Gallipoli.
Personnel
- Joakim Brodén – vocals
- Rickard Sundén – guitars
- Oskar Montelius – guitars
- Pär Sundström – bass
- Daniel Mullback – drums
- Daniel Mÿhr – keyboards
In popular culture
"40:1" became a hit in Poland and Sabaton was asked to perform it on the Polish Independence Day celebration in Gdańsk in 2008. "40:1" is also used as an entrance song by Polish mixed martial artist Damian Grabowski.
The title track was featured in the Sabaton Soundtrack DLC for the grand strategy game Europa Universalis IV. [7]
References
- Donnelly, Dave. The Art of War at AllMusic
- Lye, Andy (2008). "Sabaton - The Art of War". Jukebox:Metal. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- "Sabaton - The Art of War (Reviews)". Encyclopaedia Metallum. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- "Sabaton - The Art Of War (guest review)". Metal Storm. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- The Art of War (booklet). The Art of War. Nuclear Blast. 2010.CS1 maint: others (link)
- Neidell, Indy (host, writer); Sundström, Pär (host); Olsson, Spartacus (writer); Linke, Marcus (writer) (31 October 2019). "Unbreakable − Guerrilla Warfare − Sabaton History 039 [Official] − YouTube". YouTube. Sabaton History. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- "Europa Universalis IV - Sabaton Soundtrack | Sabaton – Official website and headquarters". Sabaton – Official website and headquarters. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2017-12-22.