Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 03/12/1996
Run Time: 58:58
En Extasis is
Thalía's debut album for
EMI as well as a huge stride forward for her career. Her preceding series of albums for
Fonovisa were fairly successful in Mexico, but more so because of her celebrity than because they were especially good albums. In particular, they were weighed down by assembly-line
pop schmaltz -- poorly written and even more poorly produced. So
En Extasis is the first album where
Thalía gets to sing well-written songs over lively productions. On a pair of songs,
"Piel Morena" and
"Me Faltas Tu," she even gets to work with two of
Latin music's premier hitmakers: producer
Emilio Estefan, Jr. and songwriter
Kike Santander. And too, there's a song written by future
Kumba King A.B. Quintanilla III,
"Amandote," as well as a cover of
Latin legend
Juan Gabriel,
"Gracias a Dios." Sure, 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. All of the aforementioned songs are highlights, as is
"Maria la del Barrio," the catchy theme song from her popular telenovela of the time.
"Piel Morena" is probably the most notable song, not only because it's a dynamite album-opener but also because it was her first international hit, putting her on the
Billboard Hot
Latin Tracks chart for the first time (a chart she would come to dominate by the end of the decade). The key appeal of
"Piel Morena," along with most of the other highlights here, is that its rhythm is anything but generic. No, the music of
En Extasis 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. She would further develop this approach on her subsequent, more fully fledged album,
Amor a la Mexicana, but it's certainly on display here and makes
En Extasis her first of several noteworthy albums.
~Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
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