 Upon its release Ecstasy received moderate critical acclaim . Melody Maker referred to the album as " a series of aloof , pastel washes of sound , suspended guitars , words from the back of beyond tying in to a large , shifting whole " and " larger than the sum of its parts " . In Loveless , a book from the 33 ⅓ series about the My Bloody Valentine album of the same name , Mike <unk> referred to Ecstasy as a " rarified , effete and poppy approach to <unk> rock " and AllMusic rated the album two and a half out of five stars . In a separate review of Ecstasy and Wine , AllMusic writer Bradley Torreano described Ecstasy as the point where the band " started moving toward Cocteau Twins territory , using guitarist Bilinda Butcher 's airy voice to define their image " and when " Shields and Butcher [ were ] exploring the guitar landscapes that would later become their trademark " . 
