Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
| Sarah McLachlan
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, released on 22 October 1993, in Canada, 5 February 1994, in the United States, 24 May 1994, in Japan and 14 August 1994, in Australia. It was produced by Pierre Marchand in Montreal; McLachlan wrote most of the album while living in a small house near Marchand's studio. The album was an immediate hit in Canada, where McLachlan was already an established star. Over the next two years, it became her breakthrough album internationally as well. However, in some countries, most notably the United States, the album was a steady seller that stayed in the middle ranges of the pop charts for almost two years. As of November 2003, the album had sold 2.8 million copies in the United States.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
November 5, 2017. The Canadian singer-songwriter’s third record is a fascinating outlier in her catalog, an unsparing and expansive album written in the mountains of Quebec following traumatic experiences in her life.
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Slant Magazine
October 28, 2003. So much of the album is about restraint, so that by the time she (and we) reach the album’s title track she truly is on her way toward ecstasy. The trouble with the album’s title, however, is that she never fumbles. Not even once.
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AllMusic
. . . McLachlan's work was rarely as raw or honest as it is on this record, where tales of sin, lust, and love are delivered alongside piano arpeggios and electronic flourishes.
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PopMatters
August 8, 2008. . . . Fumbling Towards Ecstasy remains a truly gorgeous album.
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Rolling Stone
. . . Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, offers less-buoyant hooks and more-muted arrangements than her last effort, Solace (1992), did. Still, there are moments of quiet radiance on Ecstasy, and even the more-elusive songs reveal a passionate dignity.
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Albumism
October 20, 2018. Throughout Fumbling, McLachlan traverses the fragility and resilience of the human heart with a refreshing, understated sincerity devoid of pretense.
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Paste Magazine
September 2, 2008. In 1993, Liz Phair, Björk, PJ Harvey, Belly, and The Breeders all released well-received albums, heralding that the decade of Women in Rock was underway—no matter how dubious that designation seems today. Yet none of them boasted the sales figures or overwhelming influence—ill or otherwise—of Sarah McLachlan’s third album, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, which inspired not only the Lilith Fair tours but also the eventual sanitizing of that very movement.
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The Night Owl
In 1994, she released the album that many consider to be her greatest work--Fumbling Toward Ecstasy. Surfacing may have sold more, but Fumbling is a much better album.
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Amoeba Music
May 26, 2010. Sarah McLachlan’s 1996 album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy further develops her talent as a contemporary alternative folk rock singer-songwriter. Ethereal vocals grip the often-jarring narratives that delve into topics that “good girls” wouldn’t talk about.
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Rolling Stone.de
September 26, 2009. Now heard again, from the distance of 15 years sometimes the impression arises that she gave her producer too much free hand with the sometimes unnecessarily overloaded arrangements. Which probably had something to do with the fact that she did not really trust the songs in "skeletonized", nude early versions.
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PopEntertainment.com
February, 1994. With Fumbling Towards Ecstacy, the title belies the ease with which McLachlan lures you into her web. There is nothing clumsy about her artistry, she is in complete control of her destiny.
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Guitar Chords
FTE is a captivatingly atmospheric and lyrically accomplished album which fortunately doesn’t live up to its title – this is a sure-handed, confident and engaging work – there are no signs of fumbling anywhere to be found. Highly recommended.
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Listal
Sarah McLachlan produced her finest, most consistent album very early on in her career. She has a well developed sound that allows her lovely vocals to shine on every sound.
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Thke Danger Zone
This is the album that started putting Sarah on the map as a global star. It’s no wonder why. Simply put, the album is mesmerizing. Chronologically her third full studio album release, Fumbling Toward Ecstasy finds Sarah utterly in her own element.
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No Depression
May 29, 2014. In rare moments of our musical journeys, an album opens up a portal in ourselves that we didn’t know was there–or hadn’t yet been unlocked. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was that album for me . . . .
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Corey Reed
August 30, 2018. Much like her two next albums, it encapsulated the flavour of the times in a raw, earthy way. This is where McLachlan is at her finest, as “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” shimmers with a degree of introspectiveness that few recordings can achieve.
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Progarchy
Far more mature (in all the good and bad that goes with maturity) than TOUCH but far more cohesive than SOLACE, FUMBLING brings together everything perfect in McLachlan’s song writing. It creates the atmosphere of TOUCH without the unevenness of SOLACE.
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Don Ignacio's Music Reviews
Here is Sarah McLachlan's huge breakthrough! This is the album that established her as a viable (and purchasable) alternative musician, and is why people today know who she is.
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