Sabaton

'Ghost In The Trenches' is now my favorite song on the album now. One of the best stories of war Sabaton has told, it's right up there with 'No Bullets Fly'. Also it has the best chorus on the album.
 
I like the new album. I cannot compare it to the other albums, because I have to listen to them in full.

The title track is great, ''82nd All The Way'' is awesome and ''The Red Baron'' and ''Fields Of Verdun'' are solid tracks too. The title track is the best song on the album IMO. They should have added Bismarck to the album - great song. The album cover is good too.

I already have listened to some songs of theirs. I quite like Metal Ripper/Crue/Machine. Also ''7734'', ''No Bullets Fly'' are great songs.

Which is their best song? A lot of people/fans praise ''Ghost Division'' as their top song.

With every listen I like this band more and more.
 
I like the new album. I cannot compare it to the other albums, because I have to listen to them in full.

The title track is great, ''82nd All The Way'' is awesome and ''The Red Baron'' and ''Fields Of Verdun'' are solid tracks too. The title track is the best song on the album IMO. They should have added Bismarck to the album - great song. The album cover is good too.

I already have listened to some songs of theirs. I quite like Metal Ripper/Crue/Machine. Also ''7734'', ''No Bullets Fly'' are great songs.

Which is their best song? A lot of people/fans praise ''Ghost Division'' as their top song.

With every listen I like this band more and more.
The Art of War, Coat of Arms and Carolus Rex are often considered to be the best albums, and the best songs are most likely to be found on those albums too. Carolus Rex, Uprising and The Price of a Mile for example.
 
So having listened through The Great War a few times, I will admit it took me a bit to come to grips with a few of the decisions made here. While some songs are extremely Sabaton-by-the-numbers (The Future of Warfare, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, 82nd All the Way, Devil Dogs, Fields of Verdun, and to a lesser extent, Great War), some show quite a few signs of experimentation (Attack of the Dead Men, The Red Baron, The End of the War to End all Wars). I'm not sure those all work. I'm going back and forth on Attack of the Dead Men, though I lean more towards liking it. The Red Baron's organ combined with a hard-driving riff is working for me, and I think The End of the War to End All Wars should have been three minutes longer and dragged the ideas out to allow them to breathe and become more mature. I won't be able to provide clear cut rankings for awhile yet, but if I organized the album into thirds, it would look like this:

Top Third: The Future of Warfare, The Red Baron, Great War
Middle Third: Fields of Verdun, Attack of the Dead Men, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, A Ghost in the Trenches
Bottom Third: Devil Dogs, 82nd All the Way, The End of the War to End all Wars

Edit: Devil Dogs is an all-time bottom 5 Sabaton track, a true stinker that shouldn't have ended up anywhere other than the cutting room floor.
Further Edit: I hope the US Marines don't kill Sabaton for making such a shit track about them.
 
Everything they've done sounds the same, but I reckon 'Cliffs of Gallipoli' is their best song.

I've listened to it, it's a good song.
Why? It’s not from the Great War.

But it is a fantastic song.
The Art of War, Coat of Arms and Carolus Rex are often considered to be the best albums, and the best songs are most likely to be found on those albums too. Carolus Rex, Uprising and The Price of a Mile for example.

:ok:
 
But it is a fantastic song.
Yeah, but there’s no way to include it on the album without it coming off as shoehorned, unless it was a bonus track. The style is rather different from the album’s songs anyway.
 
If I have to divide the songs in categories:

The best songs: Great War, 82nd All The Way, The Red Baron, Fields Of Verdun
Second best: Seven Pillars Of Wisdom, A Ghost In The Trenches, The Future Of Warfare
Average songs: The End Of The War To End All Wars, The Attack Of The Dead Men
Filler: Devil Dogs
 
I'm little disappointed with album. After 3 years of waiting I was expecting something epic and some longer songs for this type of album such as Rise of Evil and Gallipoli or Final Solution.
 
I have to say that I think The Great War is a much stronger album overall than The Last Stand, yet probably just below Heroes. There’s no bottom-of-the-barrel filler here, unlike the previous album. However, this is more of Sabaton writing cookie-cutter songs that really could be fleshed out more. It’s a cycle they’ve continued from the previous two albums - the songs are just too direct and quick to the point. This band’s best tracks, in my opinion, are the ones that are more drawn out - Uprising, Gallipoli, Carolus Rex, Final Solution, Wolfpack, etc. Anyway, on to it...

01. The Future of Warfare - While the song places a strong emphasis on full-band syncopation and has some timings not typically used by the band, it’s largely paint-by-numbers Sabaton. Everyone loves tanks, but the song is too simple for me to consider it among my favorites. The pre-chorus just slogs along, although the solos are neat. Not a great opener, either, but they’re very hit-or-miss with those (Night Witches was perfect; Sparta, not so much).

02. Seven Pillars of Wisdom - Yeah, it sounds like White Death, but it’s a far more emotive track. It does nothing new, but it’s a punchy and catchy tune that has a chorus you’ll find yourself singing in the shower.

03. 82nd all the Way - The strongest song to this point, and one that could have been on Heroes. A fun and energetic song (excellent main riff) with a great chorus and bridge. Parts of this remind me of Soldier of 3 Armies, although not as strong. I love the “1918” line in the chorus, particularly when the band pauses for it the last time.

04. Attack of the Dead Men - Definitely my favorite track on the album. The electronic keyboard sounds are fresh for Sabaton, even though I fail to see how it fits the song’s topic. The chorus is simple yet outstanding, and I love the (always too brief) instrumental section. This could be a dance song, and I mean that in a positive way. People love to dance to songs about weaponized gas!

05. Devil Dogs - Definitely my least favorite track on the album. It’s not as bad as the filler on The Last Stand, but there’s nothing truly memorable here aside from the bridge (Sabaton kills it with bridges, if you haven’t noticed). Also, this song is essentially Sabaton covering Smoking Snakes and changing the lyrics. Most Sabaton songs have their doppelgänger somewhere, but this is basically a carbon copy. Sadly, I’m sure us American folk are going to have to endure this live since it’s about the Marines.

06. The Red Baron - This song is surprisingly jaunty for Sabaton, and I like it quite a bit. The organ is a different sound for them, and the chorus is just goofy, but it’s a catchy song! I honestly don’t mind the intro, even if it doesn’t fit. The riff before the organ solo is killer. I’ll take a ‘70s rock version of Night Witches anytime!

07. Great War - Everyone seems to love this song, but it just hasn’t clicked with me yet. I like that it’s one of the few mid-tempo heavy tunes here (the last few albums have quality issues in that department), but the chorus just doesn’t do it for me. The verses are also not my cup of tea. None of the vocals in this song are, really. I do like the orchestration, though. The intro is beyond epic, which sadly makes the rest of the song a letdown.

08. Ghost in the Trenches - I like this song more and more with every listen. It has a unique tonality for the band, a great chorus, and an instrumental portion that (while lacking a traditional guitar solo) is quite an earworm. I particularly like the neoclassical bit in the second half. Weird ending, but it’s different for Sabaton, so I can’t complain. The guitar work in particular shines on this song, as neither guitar sounds like they’re ever playing the same thing.

09. Fields of Verdun - Another track that everyone seems to love but that to me sounds more like the same old Sabaton. While it’s stronger than the title track, I find the chorus to be very sophomoric and almost annoying to listen to. The song’s strongest point is, unsurprisingly, the bridge (which sounds straight out of a musical) and the neoclassical solo that follows. It’s an energetic song that will probably be great live, though.

10. The End of the War to End All Wars - Behind the horrible title and misplaced intro lies one of the band’s most progressive and adventurous songs. Not a whole lot repeats here, which is bizarre but refreshing for a band based on hooks. The orchestration is killer, and dare I say that the music is almost too epic for Joakim’s baritone. The verses and pre-choruses actually sound like they’re taken from the early years Sabaton playbook. I love the first “chorus” and solo over the choir, and the Nightwish section that follows gets me every time! A very unique closer, even if it should have been several minutes longer.

All in all, this is a much better album than The Last Stand (which had just three songs that I really liked and a fourth okay one). I yearn for the day that Sabaton gives us another album like their “golden trilogy” (Art, Coat, Carolus), and Bismarck (which is more my cup of tea than anything on this album) proves that they can do it!
 
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