Released in 1976, when
Etta James
wasn't ruling the charts by any means but wasn't adverse to the idea of climbing back into the Top 40,
Etta Is Bettah Than Evvah!
bears a boastful title and its ten funky cuts do not lack for bravado. Nevertheless, it's very difficult to agree that
Etta
is better than ever here. Part of the problem is that the songs are just kind of generic: good-enough uptempo dance cuts and midtempo groovers, songs that give enough space for
but never really escape the confines of average '70s disco-oriented R&B.
James
certainly sings her heart out, or at least throws her all into the pulsating wah-wah and clavinet grooves, and all the participants are immaculate professionals, always avoiding embarrassment (with the notable exception of "Jump into Love"), but the whole thing winds up as nothing more than vaguely pleasing, a '70s funk-soul record fronted by a singer who never quite seems invested in the fashion she's wearing. The ten bonus tracks added to
Kent
/
Ace
's 2013 reissue -- cobbled together from
Chess
LPs from 1973-1975, plus a few cuts that didn't see release until years later -- are enjoyable (including two
Randy Newman
covers) but don't really change the character of this fun enough but ultimately forgettable period soul. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine