En éxtasis
En éxtasis 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 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. En Extasis has sold over one million copies worldwide as of 1999.
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; "Me Erotizas", originally performed by the French singer Herbert Léonard, under the name "Sur des musiques érotiques" on the 1987 album "Laissez-nous rêver". Thalia wrote a new Spanish lyric for the song; "Fantasía", by Gabriela Anders; "Te Quiero Tanto", originally by Eddie Sierra on the 1990 album "Está todo bien". 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, and referred expressly to Buenos Aires. "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", starring Thalía, instead of the song with which it was originally released in México.
Different versions
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", was being broadcast in all Latin America. 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" and "Gracias a Dios", and the soundtrack from "María la del Barrio". 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".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.
- Amandote: 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.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
Commercial performance
In 1997 the album reached number 1 in Paraguay. Besides, this album paved the way to the extremely successful international music career on which she was going to embark in the years to come. As of July 1996, the album sold a half million copies worldwide. According to Billboard magazine the album is a "multimillion seller".
She received a lot of certifications in an only day in 1997, during the inauguration of EMI's Miami office. The event received coverage of over 15 different TV channels and music directors from several countries.
Bailando en éxtasis
En éxtasis became such a success worldwide that EMI decided to release a special edition of it, named Bailando en Éxtasis, 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.Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
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