The Art of War (Sabaton album): Difference between revisions

The Art of War
The Art of War
Studio album by Sabaton
Released	30 May 2008
Recorded	September 2007 – January 2008
Studio	The Abyss (Pärlby, Sweden)
Genre	Power metal
Length	49:28
Label	Black Lodge Records
Producer	Sabaton, Tommy & Peter Tägtgren
Sabaton chronology
Singles from The Art of War
	""Cliffs of Gallipoli""; Released: 30 May 2008;
Re-Armed edition
	Front cover of the 2010 reissue

Browse history interactively

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Latest revision as of 23:49, 25 July 2024

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Jukebox:Metal	^[2]
Encyclopaedia Metallum	^[3]
Metal Storm	^[4]

The Art of War is the fourth album by Swedish power metal band Sabaton.

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]

Since the album's release, the song "Ghost Division" has served as the opening song for most of Sabaton's concerts.^[6]

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", "Cliffs of Gallipoli", "Union (Slopes of St. Benedict)", "The Price of a Mile", "Firestorm" and "A Secret". These quotes are taken from LibriVox's audiobook version of the book, which follows the Lionel Giles translation.

At time of writing, "Unbreakable" was intended to describe a particular historical guerrilla warfare action; however, songwriters Joakim Brodén and Pär Sundström have since forgotten which one they were thinking of.^[7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Theme	Length
1.	"Sun Tzu Says"			First two sentences of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War	0:23
2.	"Ghost Division"	Brodén, Sundström	Brodén	The 7th Panzer Division in the Battle of France	3:51
3.	"The Art of War"	Brodén	Brodén	The third chapter ("Planning offensives") of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War	5:08
4.	"40:1"	Brodén, Sundström	Brodén	The Battle of Wizna	4:10
5.	"Unbreakable"	Brodén, Sundström	Brodén	Guerrilla warfare	5:58
6.	"The Nature of Warfare"			The sixth chapter ("Vacuity and Substance") of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War	1:18
7.	"Cliffs of Gallipoli"	Brodén, Sundström	Brodén	The Gallipoli Campaign	5:51
8.	"Talvisota"	Sundström	Brodén	The Winter War	3:32
9.	"Panzerkampf"	Brodén, Sundström	Brodén	The Battle of Kursk from the Soviet perspective	5:15
10.	"Union (Slopes of St. Benedict)"	Brodén, Sundström	Brodén	The Italian campaign and the Battle of Monte Cassino from the allied perspective	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	Carpet bombing campaigns in World War II	3:25
13.	"A Secret"			A humorous outro addressing music piracy	0:37
Total length:					49:28

Re-armed edition bonus tracks
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. In 2010 The album was re-released with other early Sabaton albums under their new label in a "Re-Armed" version that included several new bonus tracks.

Personnel

Joakim Brodén – vocals
Rickard Sundén – guitars
Oskar Montelius – guitars
Pär Sundström – bass
Daniel Mullback – drums
Daniel Mÿhr – keyboards

Charts

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[8]	5

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.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b Donnelly, Dave. The Art of War at AllMusic
^ Lye, Andy (2008). "Sabaton - The Art of War". Jukebox:Metal. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. 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.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ "Interviews | GigView".
^ 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. Retrieved 23 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ "Swedishcharts.com – Sabaton – The Art of War". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
^ "Europa Universalis IV - Sabaton Soundtrack | Sabaton – Official website and headquarters". Sabaton – Official website and headquarters. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2017.

[allmusic-1] Donnelly, Dave. The Art of War at AllMusic

[2] Lye, Andy (2008). "Sabaton - The Art of War". Jukebox:Metal. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2020.

[3] "Sabaton - The Art of War (Reviews)". Encyclopaedia Metallum. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.

[4] "Sabaton - The Art Of War (guest review)". Metal Storm. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2020.

[liner-5] The Art of War (booklet). The Art of War. Nuclear Blast. 2010.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

[6] "Interviews | GigView".

[7] 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. Retrieved 23 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[ac_Sweden_Sabaton-8] "Swedishcharts.com – Sabaton – The Art of War". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 5, 2024.

[9] "Europa Universalis IV - Sabaton Soundtrack | Sabaton – Official website and headquarters". Sabaton – Official website and headquarters. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2017.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
 {{Infobox album
 | name       = The Art of War
-| type       = [[Album]]
+| type       = studio
 | artist     = [[Sabaton (band)|Sabaton]]
 | cover      = Cover art of war.jpg
 | alt        =
-| released   = May 30, 2008
+| released   = 30 May 2008
-| recorded   = September 2007 - January 2008, Abyss Studios, [[Sweden]]
+| recorded   = September 2007 – January 2008
 | venue      =
+| studio     = [[The Abyss (recording studio)|The Abyss]] (Pärlby, Sweden)
-| studio     =
-| genre      = [[Power metal]]
+| genre      = [[Power metal]]<ref name="allmusic"/>
 | length     = 49:28
-| label      = Black Lodge Records
+| label      = [[Black Lodge Records]]
-| producer   = Sabaton, Tommy & Peter Tägtgren
+| producer   = Sabaton, Tommy & [[Peter Tägtgren]]
 | prev_title = [[Metalizer]]
 | prev_year  = 2007
@@ Line 20: / Line 21: @@
  | name        = The Art of War
  | type        = studio
- | single1     = "Cliffs of Gallipoli"/"Ghost Division"
+ | single1     = "Cliffs of Gallipoli"
- | single1date = May 30, 2008
+ | single1date = 30 May 2008
 }}
 {{Extra album cover
@@ Line 33: / Line 34: @@
 }}
 {{Album ratings
-| rev1      = [[Allmusic]]
+| rev1      = [[AllMusic]]
-| rev1Score =  {{Rating|3|5}} <ref>{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r2158133|first=Dave|last=Donnelly}}</ref>
+| rev1Score =  {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r2158133|first=Dave|last=Donnelly}}</ref>
-| rev2      = [[Jukebox:Metal]]
+| rev2      = Jukebox:Metal
-| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}} <ref>[http://www.jukeboxmetal.com/2008/sabaton-the-art-of-war/ Jukebox:Metal review]</ref>
+| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.jukeboxmetal.com/2008/sabaton-the-art-of-war/ | first=Andy | last=Lye | title=Sabaton - The Art of War | publisher=Jukebox:Metal | date=2008 | accessdate=18 April 2020 | archive-date=19 June 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619030527/http://www.jukeboxmetal.com/2008/sabaton-the-art-of-war/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>
+|rev3 = [[Encyclopaedia Metallum]]
+|rev3score = {{rating|7.8|10}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Sabaton/The_Art_of_War/190522 | title=Sabaton - The Art of War (Reviews) | publisher=[[Encyclopaedia Metallum]] | date=6 May 2019 | accessdate=18 April 2020}}</ref>
+|rev4 = [[Metal Storm (webzine)|Metal Storm]]
+|rev4score = {{rating|8.51|10}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=6631 | title=Sabaton - The Art Of War (guest review) | publisher=[[Metal Storm (webzine)|Metal Storm]] | date=27 April 2009 | accessdate=18 April 2020}}</ref>
 }}
-{{Other uses|The Art of War}}
-'''''The Art of War''''' is the fourth album by [[Swedish language|Swedish]] [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Sabaton (band)|Sabaton]].
+'''''The Art of War''''' is the fourth album by Swedish [[power metal]] band [[Sabaton (band)|Sabaton]].
-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 [[World War I|First]] and [[World War II|Second]] World Wars where Sun Tzu's tactics were applied.<ref name=liner>{{Cite AV media notes|title=The Art of War|others=The Art of War|year=2010|type=booklet|publisher=[[Nuclear Blast]]|asin=}}</ref>
+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 [[World War I|First]] and [[World War II|Second]] World Wars where Sun Tzu's tactics were applied.<ref name=liner>{{Cite AV media notes|title=The Art of War|others=The Art of War|year=2010|type=booklet|publisher=[[Nuclear Blast]]}}</ref>
+Since the album's release, the song "Ghost Division" has served as the opening song for most of Sabaton's concerts.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gigview.be/interviews/interview-sabaton-p%C3%A4r-sundstr%C3%B6m | title=Interviews &#124; GigView }}</ref>
 ==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.
+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", "Cliffs of Gallipoli", "Union (Slopes of St. Benedict)", "The Price of a Mile", "Firestorm" and "A Secret". These quotes are taken from  [[LibriVox]]'s audiobook version of the book, which follows the [[Lionel Giles]] translation.
+At time of writing, "Unbreakable" was intended to describe a particular historical [[guerrilla warfare]] action; however, songwriters Joakim Brodén and Pär Sundström have since forgotten which one they were thinking of.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJPyLlxj8nY |title=Unbreakable − Guerrilla Warfare − Sabaton History 039 <nowiki>[Official]</nowiki> − YouTube |last1=Neidell |first1=Indy (host, writer) |authorlink1=Indy Neidell |last2= Sundström |first2=Pär (host) |authorlink2=Pär Sundström |last3=Olsson |first3=Spartacus (writer) |last4=Linke |first4=Marcus (writer) |date=31 October 2019 |access-date=23 November 2019 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>
 ==Track listing==
@@ Line 54: / Line 64: @@
 |lyrics1      =
 |music1       =
-|extra1       = A short introduction to [[Sun Tzu]]'s [[The Art of War|Art of War]]
+|extra1       = First two sentences of [[Sun Tzu]]’s [[The Art of War]]
 |length1      = 0:23
 |title2       = Ghost Division
 |lyrics2      = Brodén, Sundström
 |music2       = Brodén
-|extra2       = [[Erwin Rommel]] and the [[7th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|7th Panzer Division]]
+|extra2       = The [[7th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)|7th Panzer Division]] in the [[Battle of France]]
 |length2      = 3:51
 |title3       = The Art of War
 |lyrics3      = Brodén
 |music3       = Brodén
-|extra3       = Sun Tzu's 'Planning Offensives'
+|extra3       = The third chapter ("Planning offensives") of [[Sun Tzu]]’s [[The Art of War]]
 |length3      = 5:08
 |title4       = 40:1
@@ Line 74: / Line 84: @@
 |lyrics5      = Brodén, Sundström
 |music5       = Brodén
-|extra5       = 'Partisans in WW2'
+|extra5       = [[Guerrilla warfare]]
 |length5      = 5:58
 |title6       = The Nature of Warfare
 |lyrics6      =
 |music6       =
-|extra6       = Sun Tzu's 'Vacuity and Substance'
+|extra6       = The sixth chapter ("Vacuity and Substance") of [[Sun Tzu]]’s [[The Art of War]]
 |length6      = 1:18
 |title7       = Cliffs of Gallipoli
@@ Line 89: / Line 99: @@
 |lyrics8      = Sundström
 |music8       = Brodén
-|extra8       = The Finnish [[Winter War]]
+|extra8       = The [[Winter War]]
 |length8      = 3:32
 |title9       = Panzerkampf
 |lyrics9      = Brodén, Sundström
 |music9       = Brodén
-|extra9       = The [[Battle of Kursk]]
+|extra9       = The [[Battle of Kursk]] from the Soviet perspective
 |length9      = 5:15
 |title10      = Union (Slopes of St. Benedict)
 |lyrics10     = Brodén, Sundström
 |music10      = Brodén
-|extra10      = The [[Battle of Monte Cassino]]
+|extra10      = The [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italian campaign]] and the [[Battle of Monte Cassino]] from the allied perspective
 |length10     = 4:05
 |title11      = The Price of a Mile
@@ Line 109: / Line 119: @@
 |lyrics12     = Brodén, Sundström
 |music12      = Brodén
-|extra12      = The [[Strategic bombing|strategic bombing campaigns]] of [[World War II]]
+|extra12      = [[Carpet bombing|Carpet bombing campaigns]] in [[World War II]]
 |length12     = 3:25
 |title13      = A Secret
@@ Line 119: / Line 129: @@
 {{track listing
-|collapsed= yes
 |headline = Re-armed edition bonus tracks
 |extra_column = Theme
@@ Line 132: / Line 141: @@
 |extra16  = Pre-production demo version
 |length16 = 4:48
-|title17  = [[Du gamla, Du fria|Swedish National Anthem]] (Live At [[Sweden Rock Festival]])
+|title17  = [[Du gamla, Du fria|Swedish National Anthem]] (Live at [[Sweden Rock Festival]])
 |extra17  = Swedish National Anthem
 |length17 = 2:34
@@ Line 138: / Line 147: @@
 ==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]].
+''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]]. In 2010 The album was re-released with other early Sabaton albums under their new label in a "Re-Armed" version that included several new bonus tracks.
-== Album lineup ==
+== Personnel ==
-* Joakim Brodén – vocals
+* [[Joakim Brodén]] – vocals
 * Rickard Sundén – guitars
 * Oskar Montelius – guitars
-* Pär Sundström – bass
+* [[Pär Sundström]] – bass
 * Daniel Mullback – drums
 * Daniel Mÿhr – keyboards
+==Charts==
+{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
+! Chart (2008)
+! Peak<br />position
+|-
+{{Album chart|Sweden|5|artist=Sabaton|album=The Art of War|rowheader=true|accessdate=February 5, 2024}}
+|}
 == 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 [[Poles|Polish]] [[mixed martial artist]] [[Damian Grabowski]].
+"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]]. <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sabaton.net/europa-universalis-iv-sabaton-soundtrack/|title=Europa Universalis IV - Sabaton Soundtrack {{!}} Sabaton – Official website and headquarters|date=2015-12-01|work=Sabaton – Official website and headquarters|access-date=2017-12-22|language=en-US}}</ref>
+The title track was featured in the Sabaton Soundtrack DLC for the grand strategy game [[Europa Universalis IV]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sabaton.net/europa-universalis-iv-sabaton-soundtrack/|title=Europa Universalis IV - Sabaton Soundtrack {{!}} Sabaton – Official website and headquarters|date=1 December 2015|work=Sabaton – Official website and headquarters|access-date=22 December 2017|language=en-US}}</ref>
 ==References==
@@ Line 158: / Line 175: @@
 {{Sabaton}}
+{{Authority control}}
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Art Of War, The}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Art of War, The}}
 [[Category:2008 albums]]
 [[Category:Sabaton (band) albums]]

v t e Sabaton
Joakim Brodén Pär Sundström Chris Rörland Hannes Van Dahl Thobbe Englund Richard Larsson Oskar Montelius Rikard Sundén Daniel Mullback Daniel Mÿhr Robban Bäck Tommy Johansson
Studio albums	Primo Victoria (2005) Attero Dominatus (2006) Metalizer (2007) The Art of War (2008) Coat of Arms (2010) Carolus Rex (2012) Heroes (2014) The Last Stand (2016) The Great War (2019) The War to End All Wars (2022)
Related articles	Sabaton discography