With The Great War about to come out, would anyone be interested in doing a full discussion/ranking of the Sabaton discography, as Diesel did with the Blaze one?
Sabaton
- Thread starter gazda
- Start date
Collin
Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
Very interested.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
Of course you are.
Collin
Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
Look forward to Sabaton album reviews.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
"This album sounds a lot like the previous five albums. There are Hallelujah choruses and the vocals are weak. The fifth song is amazing on an overall solid album. 7/10"
Collin
Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
1. This one is about war. I like it. 10/10
2. This one is about war. I don't like it. 3/10
3. Another one about war. SOLID! 7/10
4. This one is about war. Very very good. My new favorite song. Solid. 11/10.
OK, I'll organize it shortly.
Travis The Dragon
AFTERGLOW!!!
Pro shot video of entire Graspop show.
Still thinking about doing the rank the songs/comment thread. I would do it in a separate thread. My question is:
Do you want a thread that rolls every couple days for individual songs, or should we do it an album at a time using a Google Form?
Do you want a thread that rolls every couple days for individual songs, or should we do it an album at a time using a Google Form?
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Have any of you heard the album yet? I'm listening to it right now.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
The album definitely sounds like everything Sabaton have done. I'd say it's very reminiscent of Carolus Rex and Heroes.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
We remember, we remember, CAROLUS—Sweden was not in the GREat wah
To the tune of idfk
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Initial thoughts:
— This doesn’t feel like an album, so much as a collection of songs. The biggest issue I think is that Sabaton shot themselves in the foot with the title. The Great War calls for a truly epic, big production of both e pics and balls-out rockers, and that’s not the sort of thing that one expects from Sabaton, nor the sort of thing Sabaton have been doing for the past two albums (and even before then, technically, but they used to have a much more grandiose sound that could pull this off anyway... and the songs weren’t all under four minutes in length...). If Sabaton were interested in actually making a soundtrack to the Great War and not just picking out bits and pieces and writing short numbers about them then this could have been a jaw dropping album. But it misses the forty minute mark by two minutes, and really, it’s just not good at all when you’re looking at it as an album. Even The Last Stand, which had a lot of mehness about it, felt more like an album than this does. But I’m just basing this on the standard album; perhaps the history edition is more satisfactory.
— It would be easy to dismiss this album as nothing new, we’ve all heard it before, et cetera, and there’s a bit of a basis in that. The style of writing is very similar to the last two albums, while they’ve thrown in pieces that don’t feel far removed from their first two records, and then other spots that remind one of their golden trio. The only record I can definitely say I don’t hear is Metalizer. But to Sabaton’s credit, such a sweeping generalization would be a bit inaccurate. While the self-plagiarism has never ever stuck out as much as it does on here, even in most of the weaker tracks they’re doing things in different ways than we’ve heard before. Whether that’s good or not is up for debate. Then there are songs like “Attack Of The Dead Men”, which actually utilizes keyboard pieces that feel like the band took a page out of Rammstein’s book, and of course “Red Baron”, this time sounding reminiscent of a ‘70s rock track (again because of the keyboard). Above all, Tommy has really stepped up to the plate as the new guy. Never before has guitar itself been so integral to the Sabaton sound, boosting up bits that unfortunately suffer from lackluster songwriting. The only song that’s just outright bland, at least on a first listen, is “Devil Dogs”, which has a great title and then just wastes it on a song that does absolutely nothing new that I can tell.
— The singles are the big highlights here. Sort of. “Red Baron” has grown on me a lot since it came out and I hope that’s a sign for the album as a whole because they mostly follow in its form (short, in and out in no time). Thus, even while it’s basically a weaker version of “Night Witches” with 70s keyboards replacing all the bite, I do dig it. “Great War” is a great title track and a monster anthem and it grabs me every time. Meanwhile “Fields Of Verdun” was a great introduction to the record and highlighting a lot of its style - anthemic chorus with a lot of rhyming, hard-hitting verses, quieter bridge, and a roaring guitar solo. Yet at the same time, it’s of better quality than a lot of the songs here, so... yeah.
— Beyond the singles, there are three other numbers I want to mention. Firstly, “A Ghost In The Trenches”. They did not disappoint the Canadians here. This song rocks, but it must be said that the way it’s assembled together feels kinda clunky. I hope that grows on me because the way the words are lined up in the verses and chorus isn’t really typical Sabaton style, especially with all the rhyming this album has. Secondly, “The End Of The War To End All Wars”, which is about the least Sabaton sort of thing they could have done... sort of. This is the most grandiose song on the album (rivaled by the title track) and the longest as well. The eschew a really anthemic Sabaton chorus and instead focus on orchestra and big choir pieces. It’s really interesting, even if the verse itself is reminiscent of Primo Victoria days. But the thing is, like I said, this album feels more like a collection of songs, and this one suffers from that. It deserves a bigger and better album preceding it than the one it got. Which leads me to the last song on the album, not even a song really, and certainly not a Sabaton song... or at least any sort of Sabaton song we’ve heard before - a choral recreation of the famous poem “In Flanders Field”. It’s nice and all, but the same issue from TEOTWTEAW plagues it - it deserves a better and more epic album to be the closer to.
;tldr - for a first listen, I’m underwhelmed. There’s a lot of interesting bits here and there but the album just doesn’t live up to the title. Hopefully it gets better with repeats.
— This doesn’t feel like an album, so much as a collection of songs. The biggest issue I think is that Sabaton shot themselves in the foot with the title. The Great War calls for a truly epic, big production of both e pics and balls-out rockers, and that’s not the sort of thing that one expects from Sabaton, nor the sort of thing Sabaton have been doing for the past two albums (and even before then, technically, but they used to have a much more grandiose sound that could pull this off anyway... and the songs weren’t all under four minutes in length...). If Sabaton were interested in actually making a soundtrack to the Great War and not just picking out bits and pieces and writing short numbers about them then this could have been a jaw dropping album. But it misses the forty minute mark by two minutes, and really, it’s just not good at all when you’re looking at it as an album. Even The Last Stand, which had a lot of mehness about it, felt more like an album than this does. But I’m just basing this on the standard album; perhaps the history edition is more satisfactory.
— It would be easy to dismiss this album as nothing new, we’ve all heard it before, et cetera, and there’s a bit of a basis in that. The style of writing is very similar to the last two albums, while they’ve thrown in pieces that don’t feel far removed from their first two records, and then other spots that remind one of their golden trio. The only record I can definitely say I don’t hear is Metalizer. But to Sabaton’s credit, such a sweeping generalization would be a bit inaccurate. While the self-plagiarism has never ever stuck out as much as it does on here, even in most of the weaker tracks they’re doing things in different ways than we’ve heard before. Whether that’s good or not is up for debate. Then there are songs like “Attack Of The Dead Men”, which actually utilizes keyboard pieces that feel like the band took a page out of Rammstein’s book, and of course “Red Baron”, this time sounding reminiscent of a ‘70s rock track (again because of the keyboard). Above all, Tommy has really stepped up to the plate as the new guy. Never before has guitar itself been so integral to the Sabaton sound, boosting up bits that unfortunately suffer from lackluster songwriting. The only song that’s just outright bland, at least on a first listen, is “Devil Dogs”, which has a great title and then just wastes it on a song that does absolutely nothing new that I can tell.
— The singles are the big highlights here. Sort of. “Red Baron” has grown on me a lot since it came out and I hope that’s a sign for the album as a whole because they mostly follow in its form (short, in and out in no time). Thus, even while it’s basically a weaker version of “Night Witches” with 70s keyboards replacing all the bite, I do dig it. “Great War” is a great title track and a monster anthem and it grabs me every time. Meanwhile “Fields Of Verdun” was a great introduction to the record and highlighting a lot of its style - anthemic chorus with a lot of rhyming, hard-hitting verses, quieter bridge, and a roaring guitar solo. Yet at the same time, it’s of better quality than a lot of the songs here, so... yeah.
— Beyond the singles, there are three other numbers I want to mention. Firstly, “A Ghost In The Trenches”. They did not disappoint the Canadians here. This song rocks, but it must be said that the way it’s assembled together feels kinda clunky. I hope that grows on me because the way the words are lined up in the verses and chorus isn’t really typical Sabaton style, especially with all the rhyming this album has. Secondly, “The End Of The War To End All Wars”, which is about the least Sabaton sort of thing they could have done... sort of. This is the most grandiose song on the album (rivaled by the title track) and the longest as well. The eschew a really anthemic Sabaton chorus and instead focus on orchestra and big choir pieces. It’s really interesting, even if the verse itself is reminiscent of Primo Victoria days. But the thing is, like I said, this album feels more like a collection of songs, and this one suffers from that. It deserves a bigger and better album preceding it than the one it got. Which leads me to the last song on the album, not even a song really, and certainly not a Sabaton song... or at least any sort of Sabaton song we’ve heard before - a choral recreation of the famous poem “In Flanders Field”. It’s nice and all, but the same issue from TEOTWTEAW plagues it - it deserves a better and more epic album to be the closer to.
;tldr - for a first listen, I’m underwhelmed. There’s a lot of interesting bits here and there but the album just doesn’t live up to the title. Hopefully it gets better with repeats.
Ariana
Black-and-white leopard
I haven't heard it yet, but if that's true, I'd be happy. I love both albums.
Wogmidget
Shitpost bot
Eh, I'm not surprised; Sabaton's discography thus far consists almost entirely of 3/4/5 minute rockers, tied together by a (mostly) consistent sound and common lyrical theme. I wouldn't have expected them to forgo a working formula, even if one considers the title a tad misleading (bearing in mind the last two albums also had a constant theme). As for the music . . . it's a decent rendition of what we all know Sabaton to be. Not great, not shocking, just decent (I feel a couple of riffs weren't as well-executed as they could've been; the title track springs to mind).
Not going to trouble for my AOTY, sadly
Not going to trouble for my AOTY, sadly
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
You should stop judging albums from the first listen. What do you possibly expect to get from one listen of an album? Can't you wait until you've fully digested the music before writing a long review of it?
I found that the previous two Sabaton albums grew on me as I listened to them more so I expect the same with 'The Great War'. It seems OK so far, better than I'd expected, but needs a bit of time to bed in.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
I had a lot of thoughts running through my head while listening to the record that I figured I’d jot them down. I like having an initial listen write up because it anchors in those thoughts and once the album really sinks in for me it’s a good comparison piece to see how much has changed. Sorry you dislike.