Stickin' to My Guns

{{Infobox album

| name = Stickin' to My Guns

| type = studio

| cover =Stickin' to My Guns.jpg

| alt =

| released = June 19, 1990{{cite web|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/CMJ/1990/|title=Upcoming Releases|work=CMJ New Music Report|page=74|date=June 8, 1990}}

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio = Digital Recorders, Nashville, Tennessee; OmniSound Studios, Nashville, Tennessee

| genre = Funk rock{{cite book|editor-first1= Anthony |editor-last1= DeCurtis |editor-link1= Anthony DeCurtis |editor-first2= James |editor-last2= Henke |editor-first3= Holly |editor-last3= George-Warren |title= The Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely New Reviews : Every Essential Album, Every Essential Artist |publisher= Random House |year= 1992 |edition= 3rd |page= 358 |isbn= 0-679-73729-4 |quote= Of her two Island albums, Stickin ' to My Guns best shows her adapting a hard R&B approach to a contemporary funk-rock sound.}}

| length =

| label = Island{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBVjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA6075|title=Goldmine Record Album Price Guide|first=Martin|last=Popoff|date=September 8, 2009|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-4402-2916-9 |via=Google Books|access-date=May 13, 2021|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513144930/https://books.google.com/books?id=vBVjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA6075|url-status=live}}

| producer = Barry Beckett

| prev_title = Seven Year Itch

| prev_year = 1989

| next_title = The Right Time

| next_year = 1992

}}

{{music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{rating|2|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/stickin-to-my-guns-mw0000204378|title=Stickin' to My Guns - Etta James | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com|access-date=2021-05-13|archive-date=2021-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513144629/https://www.allmusic.com/album/stickin-to-my-guns-mw0000204378|url-status=live}}

|rev2 = Calgary Herald

|rev2score = A{{cite news |last1=Brennan |first1=Brian |title=JAZZ DISCS |work=Calgary Herald |date=14 June 1990 |page=E3}}

|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=4 |pages=566–567}}

|rev4 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide

|rev4score = {{rating|2|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=590}}

|rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

|rev5score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |pages=357–358}}

|rev6 = Windsor Star

|rev6score = A{{cite news |last1=Shaw |first1=Ted |title=Record Review |work=Windsor Star |date=16 June 1990 |page=C2}}

}}

Stickin' to My Guns is the sixteenth studio album by Etta James, released in 1990.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/etta-james-mn0000806542/biography|title=Etta James | Biography & History|website=AllMusic|access-date=2021-05-13|archive-date=2018-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617221522/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/etta-james-mn0000806542/biography|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/30/arts/pop-music-1990-the-best-show-in-the-court-not-the-concert-hall.html|title=POP MUSIC/1990; The Best Show? In the Court, Not the Concert Hall.|first=Jon|last=Pareles|date=December 30, 1990|via=NYTimes.com|access-date=May 13, 2021|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513144758/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/30/arts/pop-music-1990-the-best-show-in-the-court-not-the-concert-hall.html|url-status=live}} It was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Contemporary Blues Recording".{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/etta-james/16880|title=Etta James|date=November 23, 2020|website=GRAMMY.com|access-date=May 13, 2021|archive-date=May 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519021828/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/etta-james/16880|url-status=live}}

Production

The album contains a duet with rapper Def Jef. Although it reunited her with several Muscle Shoals musicians, James later expressed ambivalence about the more electronic sound of the album.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-01-ca-1592-story.html|title=Rollin' With Etta : Etta James has sung and lived the blues, but these are good times for the R&B; matriarch bound for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame|date=November 1, 1992|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2021-05-13|archive-date=2021-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513144118/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-01-ca-1592-story.html|url-status=live}} Stickin' to My Guns was produced by Barry Beckett.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone called the album "a nonstop dance party filled with house rockers like 'Love to Burn' and turn-the-lights-down-low, slow-grind numbers like 'Your Good Thing (Is About to End)'."{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/stickin-to-my-guns-205992/|title=Stickin' To My Guns|first1=Bob J.|last1=Cohen|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=August 23, 1990|access-date=May 13, 2021|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513143353/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/stickin-to-my-guns-205992/|url-status=live}} MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide deemed it "a largely unsuccessful attempt to incorporate rap and hip-hop into a more traditional R&B context." The New York Times called it "the best album Aretha Franklin never made, as Ms. James belts out songs about lovers and deceivers."{{cite news |last1=Pareles |first1=Jon |title=HOME ENTERTAINMENT/RECORDINGS: SOUNDINGS: The 60's Very Soul |work=The New York Times |date=7 Oct 1990 |page=A34}}