En éxtasis

En éxtasis (English: In ecstasy) is the fourth studio album by Mexican singer Thalía, released on 12 September 1995, by EMI Latin. The album became a huge success in Latin America and other countries. This is the first album Thalía recorded on the company EMI Music. It is also her first international release.

En éxtasis
Studio album by Thalía
Released	12 September 1995
Recorded	1994–1995
Genre	Latin pop cumbia dance
Length	58:56
Label	EMI Latin
Producer	Emilio Estefan, Jr. Oscar Lopez Kike Santander Mario Ruiz
Thalía chronology
Love (1992) En éxtasis (1995) Nandito Ako (1997)
Alternative cover
Bailando en éxtasis
Singles from En éxtasis
"Piel morena" Released: 22 August 1995 "Amándote" Released: 21 November 1995 "María la del Barrio" Released: 16 January 1996 "Quiero hacerte el amor" Released: 12 March 1996 "Gracias a Dios" Released: 7 May 1996

En éxtasis produced five hit singles, received several certifications and consolidated her career. The lead single, "Piel Morena" was a success in the Latin market and is widely recognized as one of her signature songs, while the single "Maria la del Barrio" was very popular, thanks to the Mexican soap opera of the same name. The album was nominated for Pop Album of the Year at the Lo Nuestro Awards of 1996.[1] According to Billboard magazine the album is a multimillion seller,[2] it sold around 2 million copies worldwide.[3]

Background and development

After signing a multimillion dollar contract in 1994 with the company EMI,[2] Thalía joined Emilio Estefan and other producers like Oscar Lopez and Kike Santander to record the material in Miami. According to Emilio, the first time he saw Thalia was at an edition of the Acapulco Festival in which "he predicted that he would collaborate with her once". Finally, when Thalía was in Miami in 1994 to promote one of her soap operas Estefan called her by phone to say, "Hey, life brought us together again [...] Gloria and me we see Marimar every night and I have a perfect song for you [come to our studio]". After that, the performer went to the famous Crescent Moon Studios to record some tracks for the album.[4] She confessed that she "felt like the chosen one" since Estefan called her and that after hearing "Piel Morena" she commented that "it was exactly her style".[4]

The material was released on October 1, 1995; It is characterized by including several Latin American genres, such as Latin pop, cumbia and salsa. According to Thalía, En éxtasis is "an intimate moment in which I wanted to mold my feelings on a sheet. [..] They are extreme emotions and situations that are lived in moments of love [and]" in ecstasy".[5]

The number of songs included in En éxtasis was not the same in all the countries where it was released. This is due to the fact that, at the same time the album was being released, Thalía's most successful soap-opera, "María la del Barrio" ("Mary from the Block"), was being broadcast in all Latin America.[6] Even though this contributed to expand Thalía's popularity throughout the Continent, it also made different people enjoy different songs. For example, the Brazilian version of the album features, as bonus tracks, a remixed version of the songs "Amándote" ("Loving you") and "Gracias a Dios" ("Thanks to God"), and the soundtrack from "María la del Barrio" ("Mary from the block").[7] However, this version does not include the song "Juana". On the other hand, the Argentinean version of the album features, as a bonus track, only a remixed version of "Piel Morena".[8]

Composition

En éxtasis was produced by the Mexican producer Oscar López, except for the songs "Piel Morena" and "Me Faltas Tú", which were produced by Emilio Estefan and Kike Santander.

The album includes several cover songs: "Gracias a Dios", originally by the Mexican singer Juan Gabriel;[9] "Me Erotizas" ("You turn me on"), originally performed by the French singer Herbert Léonard, under the name "Sur des musiques érotiques" ("About erotic musics") on the 1987 album "Laissez-nous rêver" ("Let us dream"). Thalia wrote a new Spanish lyric for the song; "Fantasía" ("Fantasy"), by Gabriela Anders; "Te Quiero Tanto" ("I love you so much"), originally by Eddie Sierra on the 1990 album "Está todo bien" ("Everything is alright"). The lyric of the song had to undergo some changes, not only because it was a woman who was performing it this time, but also because its author had used some expressions which are typical of the Argentinean Spanish (such as "vos", a way of addressing someone), and referred expressly to Buenos Aires (one of the original verses goes: "estoy atrapado entre la luna y Buenos Aires" -"I am trapped between the moon and Buenos Aires"-; which Thalía changed to "estoy atrapada entre la luna y los mares" -"I am trapped between the moon and the sea"-). "Llévame Contigo" was recorded in 1992 by Argentinan singer Guillermo Guido in his album "Llévame Contigo".

In Argentina, "Gracias a Dios" was the soundtrack of the soap-opera "María la del Barrio" ("Mary from the block"), starring Thalía, instead of the song with which it was originally released in México (and which also became a hit).

Singles

• "Piel Morena": Released as the lead single from the album. The song was Thalia's first proper international single release and became a latin classic, topping the charts in several countries. It is also considered as one of her signature songs. The song's music video, directed by Daniel Grenuer, was shot mostly in black and white. In some scenes, Thalía wears a bra made of faucets and another one that holds candles.
• "Amándote": Released as the second single from the album, this song went to the latin radios top 5. The music video was shot in Miami and directed by Peter Begman. It portrays Thalía wearing a pink bikini, playing beach volleyball and rollerblading around the city. Then she goes into a retro style and dance with her friends. There is a cameo appearance of the Spanish singer Julio Iglesias. It was the second time that they collaborated appearing in a music video. The song reached number 4 in Mexico City.[10]
• "Maria la del Barrio": After the huge ratings of the Mexican soap opera of the same name starring Thalía, this song was chosen by the label to receive a proper single release, becoming the third single from the album. The music video consists of scenes from the soap opera.
• "Quiero hacerte el amor": The ballad was released as the fourth single from the album. Thalia performed the song during her TV appearances and it was in the set-list for her concerts that time. No music video was released for the song. An English version was included in her album Nandito Ako (1997).
• "Gracias a Dios": After the success of the previous releases, the song was chosen as the fifth and final single from the album and became another top 5 hit for Thalía. It was written by Mexican singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel.[11] The song is also known for its provocative music video, directed by Benny Corral. It portrays Thalía wearing a black leather bustier and a black short wig. She shaves a man tied to a chair and wets him with a firehose.

Promotional singles:

• "Me faltas tú": Released as the first promotional single in countries like Mexico, Argentina and Peru. Written by Aureo Baqueiro and Thalía, the song is a ballad about a person missing someone. Thalia made many performances of the song in TV shows and concerts. She gave a memorable live performance to the song featuring Julio Iglesias, which was considered an iconic act by the Latin community.
• "Lágrimas": Written by Aureo Baqueiro and Thalía, released as the second promotional single from En éxtasis. It is also the last song written by Thalia about body fluids, after "Saliva", "Sudor" and "Sangre". She sang part of the song in a music video wearing a green dress in 1994, as a part of her special in "Chabeli", a Mexican TV program. Thalia performed it a few times and also sang it on an episode of her future soap opera, Rosalinda (1999).

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
'StarPulse	[12]
Allmusic	[13]

The album received mixed to favorable reviews. Jason Birchmeier gave the album three out of five stars and wrote that "En Extasis is the first album where Thalía gets to sing well-written songs over lively productions" and that "there's some passable material interspersing these standout songs, but for the most part, Thalía gets first-rate songs to sing here and consequently she'd never sounded as good as she does here", he conclude that the album "doesn't neatly fit into any one category such as banda or Latin pop. It's dynamic music propelled with bits of cumbia, bits of pop, bits of salsa, bits of banda -- a bit of most everything great about Latin music, in fact."[13] In his review for Amazon Joey Guerra said that "there are a few limp moments on En Extasis, but Thalia is clearly coming into her own as a singer" he also praised the songs "Piel Morena", Amandote and Gracias a Dios being the first one his favorite song of the album.[14] Colombian newspaper El Tiempo said that only two tracks of the album are good, "Piel Morena" and "Me faltas tú" "thanks to their lyrics, and especially their catchy rhythms, much like the style of Colombian Kike Santander, the author of these songs".[15]

Commercial performance

En éxtasis gave Thalía multiple gold and platinum records and made her win several prizes worldwide. She received a lot of certifications in an only day in 1997, during the inauguration of EMI's Miami office.[16] The event received coverage of over 15 different TV channels and music directors from several countries.[16]

In Argentina, she became the first female Mexican artist to be certified with double Platinum award and first female Mexican soloist with a Gold certification in Brazil —and the only one until the release of Mi Delirio by Anahí in 2009.[17][18] En éxtasis sold 30,000 copies during the first 15 days in Brazil,[19] and as November 1997, Thalía became the biggest-selling female Mexican act there, with 150,000 units sold with this album.[20] Brazilian sales increased to 190,000 units as of March 1998 according to Jornal do Commercio.[21]

In 1997, the album reached number 1 in Paraguay.[22] Besides, this album paved the way to have successful in a international music career on which she was going to embark in the years to come. As of July 1996, En éxtasis sold a half million copies worldwide.[23] Eventually, it sold around 2 million units and Billboard reported that En éxtasis is a "multimillion seller".[2]

Bailando en éxtasis

En éxtasis became such a success worldwide that EMI decided to release a special edition of it, named Bailando en Éxtasis ("Dancing in Ecstasy"), which contained only remixed versions of the most popular songs featured in the original album, plus a karaoke version of "Piel Morena". This was a limited edition and was not available in many Latin-American countries (for instance, in Argentina).

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Piel Morena"	Kike Santander	4:42
2.	"Juana"	Myra Stella Turner	2:49
3.	"Quiero hacerte el amor"	Daniel García, Mario Schajris	3:59
4.	"Amándote"	A. B. Quintanilla III, Ricky Vela	3:48
5.	"Llévame Contigo"	Adrian Posse, Rolando Hernández	3:41
6.	"Me Erotizas"	Vline Buggy, Julien Lepers, Thalía	4:59
7.	"Gracias a Dios"	Juan Gabriel	4:01
8.	"Lágrimas"	Aureo Baqueiro, Thalía	4:29
9.	"Te Quiero Tanto"	Eddie Sierra	3:11
10.	"Te Dejé la Puerta Abierta"	Adrian Posee, B.B. Muñoz	3:08
11.	"Fantasía"	Gabriela Anders	4:17
12.	"Me Faltas Tú"	Santander	5:10
13.	"Piel Morena" (Pablo Flores Remix)	Santander	6:43

Bonus Tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
14.	"María la del Barrio"	Viviana Pímstein, Paco Navarrete	3:53

Remastered Edition Bonus Tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Piel Morena" (Hitmakers Remix)	Kike Santander	5:14
16.	"Piel Morena" (Emilio Mix)	Kike Santander	4:43
17.	"Piel Morena" (Instrumental)	Kike Santander	4:43

Bailando En Éxtasis

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Piel Morena" (Club Remix)	Kike Santander	6:43
2.	"Amándote" (House Latino Mix)	A. B. Quintanilla III, Ricky Vela	7:53
3.	"Gracias A Dios" (Midi's Club Mix)	Juan Gabriel	4:00
4.	"María la del Barrio" (Album Version)	Viviana Pímstein, Paco Navarrete	3:53
5.	"Juana" (Album Version)	Myra Stella Turner	2:49
6.	"Amándote" (Radio Mix)	A. B. Quintanilla III, Ricky Vela	3:33
7.	"Gracias a Dios" (Midi's Radio Mix)	Juan Gabriel	4:00
8.	"Amándote" (TapatiMix)	A. B. Quintanilla III, Ricky Vela	4:41
9.	"Gracias a Dios" (70's Midi Club Mix)	Juan Gabriel	6:11

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1995-2001) Peak position Argentine Albums (CAPIF)[24] 8 Brazilian Albums (Brazil Top 50)[25] 14 Greek International Albums (IFPI Greece)[26] 5 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[27] 7 US Top Latin Albums (Billboard)[28] 13 US Latin Pop Albums (Billboard)[29] 7

Year-end charts Chart (1996) Peak position US Top Latin Albums (Billboard)[30] 25

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[31]	2× Platinum	130,000[32]
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[33]	Gold	190,000[21]
Chile (IFPI)[16]	Gold	10,000
Mexico (AMPROFON)[34]	2× Gold	220,000[20]
Philippines (PARI)[20]	Platinum	40,000[20]
United States (RIAA)[35]	2× Platinum (Latin)	300,000[16]
Uruguay (CUD)[16]	Gold	2,000^^
Summaries
Worldwide	—	2,000,000[3]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Credits

Thalía – vocals Gabriela Anders – background vocals Edwin Bonilla – bongos, conga, maracas, timbales, tambora timbal Francisco Centeno – bass Doris Eugenio – vocals, background vocals Steve Ferrone – drums Sammy Figueroa – percussion Eddy Ganz – background vocals Didi Gutman – piano, keyboards Jeff Kievit – trumpet Amaury Lopez – background vocals Juanito Marquez – guitar Bobby Martinez – saxophone Archie Pena – drums Nicki Richards – background vocals Kike Santander – bass, guitar, percussion, background vocals Ira Siegel – guitar Dana Teboe – trombone Lori-Ann Velez – background vocals Francisco "STAR" Del - drum machine and keyboards

Production Marcelo Añez – assistant engineer Scott Canto – assistant engineer Sean Chambers – assistant engineer David Dachinger – engineer, mixing Pablo Flores – remixing Don Grossinger – mastering Scott Perry – engineer Mario Ruíz – executive producer Eric Schilling – engineer Ted Stein – engineer

See also

• 1995 in Latin music

References

1. "Univision Announces The Nominees For Spanish-Language Music's Highest Honors: Premio Lo Nuestro A La Musica Latina". PR Newswire. Free Online Library. 1996-03-27. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
2. Lannert, John (22 October 2005). "Beyond Glitz, Thalía Blazes Her Own Triade". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.: 34–. ISSN 0006-2510.
3. "Thalía le entra a la crítica política, sólo que su canción "Echa pa'lante" no la atribuye a México". Proceso (in Spanish). 28 June 1997. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
4. "Los Producers". Miami Times. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
5. Epoca de México S. A. (1997). "Epoca: semanario de México". Epoca. México (309–321): 67.
6. Batanga. Batanga Magazine. 2004. p. 23.
7. En éxtasis (Media notes). Thalía. EMI. 1997. 856876 2.CS1 maint: others (link)
8. En éxtasis (Media notes). Thalía. EMI. 1995. 8 35217 2.CS1 maint: others (link)
9. Zero. Grupo Editorial Zero. 1998. p. 32.
10. "Discos populares en latinoamérica". El Siglo de Torreón (in Spanish). 11 February 1996. Archived from the original on 10 February 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
11. Mayfield, Geoff (2 October 1999). "Billboard: Juan Gabriel King of the charts". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.: 60–. ISSN 0006-2510.
12. Jason Birchmeier, Rovi. "En Extasis Album Review, Songs, Ratings". starpulse.com. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
13. Birchmeier, Jason. "En Extasis". AllMusic. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
14. Guerra, Joey. "En Extasis (New Version)". Amazon.com.
15. "Thalia". El Tiempo (in Spanish). October 28, 1995. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
16. "Thalía volvío a ser reina en Miami: Oro y Platino para una gran estrella". La Onda Network. 8 September 1997. Archived from the original on 23 May 2000. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
17. "Reinventarse y renacer". El Mundo (in Spanish). Uruguay. 3 March 2019. Archived from the original on 24 March 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
18. Franklin, Jonathan. "Popstar - Anahí Ganha seu certificado de Disco de Ouro por 'Mi Delírio' no Brasil". Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão (in Portuguese). Brazil: Grupo Silvio Santos. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
19. "Thalia, Reina El Éxito". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 11 July 1997. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
20. "Thalia Latin America's Reigning Music Queen". Billboard Magazine. 109 (48): 33. November 29, 1997.
21. Collares, Sandro (March 4, 1998). "Thalia Ariadna arrasou no carnaval caroca". Jornal do Commercio (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 17, 2020.
22. "Lo Que Esta Sonando". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 7 February 1997. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
23. Baduel, Graciela (1996-07-11). "Es la protagonista de "Marimar", la tira mexicana que arrasa con los rátings". Clarin. Clarín Group. Archived from the original on February 5, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
24. Lannert, John (23 November 1996). "Billboard:Latin Notas". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.: 56–. ISSN 0006-2510.
25. Peak positions for Brazil:
    • En Extasis:"Top 50 Brazil". Billboard. 30 August 1997. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
26. Peak positions for Greece:
    • En Extasis:"Greek Charts (Από 23/04/2000 έως 30/04/2000)". MAD TV (Greece). Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
27. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2001. 16. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
28. "Thalia Chart History (Top Latin Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
29. "Thalia Chart History (Latin Pop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
30. "Top Latin Albums". Billboard: YE-63. 28 December 1996. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
31. Gago, Soledad (3 March 2019). "Thalía: Reinventarse y renacer". El país (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
32. "Thalía" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2021-01-09.
33. "Brazilian album certifications – Thalia – En extasis" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil.
34. "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Type Thalia in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and En extasis in the box under TÍTULO
35. "American album certifications – Thalia – En extasis". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click Type, then select Latin, then click SEARCH.