A little background that might be helpful:
“Éxtasis” was a Loving Jesus tape that we put out around the time of “Open for Love”. We wanted to do
something similar in Spanish, which would also include some of the original Spanish LJ songs that
different ones were writing, inspired by the ML series.
When it was put out, even though it was supposed to be for the FD circle, of course it made its way into
the hands of friends and Active Members, some of which were a bit stumbled by the contents of certain
songs as well as by the title of the CD, since, at the time the drug extasy was getting very popular.
Later on, the more sexually explicit songs were edited from the CD and the songs were included in
different compilations. Also, at the time, Brazil was part of the SACRO area, so it was suggested that we
include some songs in Portuguese, which is why this CD originally had three of four songs in Portuguese
at the end, something the Latin Family didn´t particularly appreciate, ha. Anyways, it was quite the
controversial project in many ways, and from what I see, the remnants of it have been compiled under
the name of “Alabanzas”.
I have no idea how that could have happened, as I could not think of a more unfitting name for it! The
only explanation of what could have happened is (this is my guess, at least) the following: At the time,
the “Praise Time” songbook had come out and been mailed to all Homes worldwide. I worked on
compiling all the songs from that songbook that had already been translated into Spanish, and
revamped some of the older translations. Then, together with some help from Jonathan Nubes I
translated most of the ones that were missing and we started –slowly but surely- recording simple
versions of those “new”songs, so that our Spanish-speaking Family would know the melodies. This
project didn´t get too far –in fact, the only songs that made it were the ones which are now grouped
under “Luces y Sombras”. But the working title of this project was Alabanzas, which is probably why
there was a mixup with Extasis.
In conclusion, Alabanzas is really Éxtasis with the exception of songs #5 & 14, which belong to Ritmo sin
fronteras. Here´s some info and background on the individual songs:
Track #1: Cada momento de mi vida – Daniel Suárez/Daniel Suárez (versión Éxtasis) Originally written
and sung by Daniel (Aarón Montaña) in MCV, this is a revamp of the old open-reel recording with some
new backup vocals and beefed up music.
Track #2: Contigo – Heidi Gubbins (This song was originally written by Heidi for “Éxtasis”, but since it´s a
pretty explicit LJ song it was taken out of circulation after a while.)
Track #3: Por la madrugada (“Now and Always” (I translated this one and it was included in Extasis,
Sunny recorded the lead in Japan) – Mike P.?/Sunny
Track #4: Solo Tú (“You Are” – Again, my translation and sung by Peruvian Mig.) ??/Miguel Alvarado
Track #5: De haber sabido (“Had I Known”--Spanish original, I wrote it) Quiti/Sunny (Came out officially
on Ritmo sin Fronteras)
Track #6: Mi oración (“My Prayer” – Spanish original, I wrote that one too. Again, this is the Éxtasis
version produced by Brazilian Paulo, which was redone later by Jerry and came out on “Huellas”, if I´m
not mistaken) Quiti/Quiti
Track #7: Amarte con intensidad (“Jesus I Want to Love You”, Spanish original, Peruvian Samuel, can´t
remember his legal name. I believe this is the only song he ever wrote.) Samuel/Samuel (I noticed the
ending is a bit cut off or abrupt)
Track #8: Ven conmigo (“Come Away”?, it´s more of an adaptation than a translation of Zack
Attack/Tony´s song that I did while in Japan, and got Rob to sing) Zack/Roberto Costa Rica
Track #9: Enamorado (“In Love”, Spanish original by Pedro, first recorded in Brazil for Éxtasis, rerecorded later on and included in “Cambia el Mundo” a CD which I believe was never officially approved
by Aurora as a GP production but did circulate somewhat and is included in this site as well, right?)
Track #10: Nada como Tus Palabras (“Nothing Like Your Words”, Spanish original written by Spanish José
María and I added a second verse to it) This particular version was sung by Mercy Robb, then rerecorded it with Joanie (of VAS)´s voice and included in a more recent album, Huellas, I believe, or
perhaps Amigo del Alma.) José María/Mercy
Track #11: Momentos de cariños (“You”, Spanish original –the first song I wrote, actually. This is the
original version for Extasis. Has been redone and included in Huellas). Quiti/Quiti
Track #12: Una rosa en el Cielo (“A Rose in Heaven” – Spanish original written and sung by Samuel
Paquette (Sam RS), produced by Philly D., actually won an award in the Festival Internacional de Autores
(FIDA) – came out in “Extasis”, and perhaps also included in “Amigo del Alma”) Sam/Sam
Track #13: Mi mejor amigo (“Mi best friend” – Spanish original written by Roberto Adán, recorded when
Roberto had left the Family but he gave us permission to use it for Extasis.) Roberto/Roberto
Track #14: Tú eres la fuerza de mi vida (“The Strength of my Life” – This is also a Spanish original by
Spanish Agustín –not to be confused with Argentine Agustín/Mario, and this particular salsa version was
recorded by Brazilian Paulo for Ritmo sin fronteras also known as “the Latin CD”.) Agustín / Paulo