Year : 2016 (10th Anniversary Edition 2026)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country: Sweden
Audio : 320 kbps + original all scans
Size : 134 mb
Bio:
Theander Expression is the AOR project by Swedish guitar player Andrée Theander, who started to work with the first album in 2012 and released it one year later. It was called ”Strange Nostalgia” after one of the songs and got critically acclaimed around the world of melodic rock in 2013.Just over two years later the follow-up is finally here and it carries the title ”Wonderful Anticipation”, as a kind of an antonym to the frequently misinterpreted debut title.Andrée has been producing and recording most of the album at the Theander studio, playing all the guitars and handles also most of the bass and keyboards, some percussion, drum programming and vocals.Other musicians featured on the album are Herman Furin (Work of Art), Bengan Andersson (NIVA, Johan Randén), Kristofer von Wachenfeldt (Care of Night), Björn Lundqvist (Sunstrike, Twilight Force), Christian Eriksson (Sunstrike, Twilight Force), Erik Martensson (Eclipse, W.E.T), Sebastian Freij and Christoffer ”Foffe” Särnefält.The record was mixed and mastered by Thomas ”Plec” Johansson at Panic Room Studios in the end of 2015 and the result is another high class rock record with classic melodies and a modern production, ready to hit the market in 2016.
Album:
Originally released by AOR Heaven Records in February 2016, ‘Wonderful Anticipation’ marked an important chapter in THEANDER EXPRESSION’s catalog - an album built on strong melodies, emotional nuance, and a clear sense of forward motion. Blending elements of melodic rock, pop, hard rock, and blues, the record focuses on atmosphere, songcraft, and expressive guitar playing, always in service of the song. The sound is warm, melodic, and reflective, rooted firmly in the AOR tradition while maintaining a personal and modern voice.As the album is out of print, Andree Theander is releasing himself this “Wonderful Anticipation [10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition]“, with new artwork and featuring a newly remastered version of the original album, offering greater clarity and depth while preserving its original character. It also includes three bonus tracks: an unreleased outtake from the original recording sessions, an intimate acoustic live version, and the opening instrumental track presented without lead guitar — created for listeners who want to explore, play along, or step inside the music themselves.More than a celebration of the past, ‘Wonderful Anticipation (10th Anniversary Edition)’ is an invitation to revisit a moment when everything still felt possible — and to discover how those emotions have aged, evolved, and perhaps grown even stronger with time.Theander brings forth the quality melodic rock we’ve become accustomed to from the Scandinavian quarter over recent years and “Wonderful Anticipation” is such an apt title, because from the opener ‘Anticipation Anthem’, that’s what the listener is doing in spades, just waiting in anticipation for the next track, as this instrumental leads the way for the rest of the album to follow.As the album unfolds the AOR infused Melodic Rock just oozes out from every pore of the CD, kicking off with ‘You Always Ran Away’, an up-tempo rocker that really shows of Theander’s vocals to the max. A real showcase track that sets the bar for the rest of the album.Title track ‘Wonderful Anticipation’ is a cut heading down the AOR road this time, with a soaring guitar and keyboards that we’ve become associated with the genre, but as with all the modern Scandinavian AOR, this sounds so fresh and very much in the now.The tempo is picked up again with the excellent ‘Ms Trendy’, another track heading down the edgier Melodic Rock path, and that same vibe is continued with the rocking ‘Factoids and Fallacies’, before Theander mixes a touch of the blues and melody filled rock for ‘Into The Valley’.It’s back to the pure Melodic Rock with the superb ‘Never Surrender’, which has that Danger Danger musical vibe about it, then it’s back across to the AOR for the stunning ‘The Loner’ and the equally impressive ‘Someday (I’ll Be There To Meet You)’.We have a quite riff fueled number in ‘On My Own’, before this superb album closes with the wonderful semi-acoustic ballad ‘State of Flow’.Andrée produced & recorded most of the album at his own studio, playing all the guitars. He also handled most of the bass and keyboard parts, some percussion, drum programming and vocals.But there’s many star musicians from the genre featured on the album like Herman Furin (Work Of Art), Bengan Andersson (Niva,), Kristofer von Wachenfeldt (Care Of Night), Björn Lundqvist (Sunstrike, Twilight Force), Christian Eriksson (Sunstrike, Twilight Force), Erik Mårtensson (Eclipse, W.E.T.), Sebastian Freij and Christoffer “Foffe” Särnefält.The record was mixed and mastered by Thomas ‘Plec’ Johansson, and the result is another high class Melodic Rock / AOR record with classic melodies and a modern production.If you thought THEANDER EXPRESSION’s debut album was good, then you’re going to be blown away by “Wonderful Anticipation”. This is, simply put, one of the best Melodic Rock / AOR albums appeared in the last decade, as tick all the right boxes needed for this genre.
Line Up:
Andrée Theander – vocals, guitar
Herman Furin - drums
+ guests:
Herman Furin (Work of Art)
Bengan Andersson (NIVA, Johan Randén)
Kristofer von Wachenfeldt (Care of Night)
Björn Lundqvist (Sunstrike, Twilight Force)
Christian Eriksson (Sunstrike, Twilight Force)
Erik Martensson (Eclipse, W.E.T)
Sebastian Freij
Christoffer ”Foffe” Särnefält
Production:
Produced by: Andree Theander
Engineered by: Andree Theander, Bengan Andersson, Erik Martensson, Herman Furin, Sebastian Freij, Gustave Kollerstron, Bjron Lundqvist
Mixed by : Thomas Johansson
Mastered by: Thomas Johansson
Tracklist:
01. Anticipation Anthem
02. You Always Ran Away
03. Wonderful Anticipation
04. Ms. Tendy
05. Factoids & Fallacies
06. Into the Valley
07. Never Surrender
08. The Loner
09. Someday (I'll Be There to Meet You)
10. On My Own
11. State of Flow
12. Voodoo Life (Bonus Track)
13. Ms. Trendy (Acoustic (Live at Spira, Jönköping, 2025) (Bonus Track)
14. Anticipation Anthem (No Lead Guitar) (Bonus Track)
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