In the late '80s, the
Mike Stock/
Matt Aitken/
Pete Waterman team was as important to European dance-pop as
Giorgio Moroder and
Pete Bellotte had been to Euro-disco in the late '70s. Many pop critics hated
Stock/
Aitken/
Waterman's slick, high-gloss approach with a passion, but what critics like and what the public buys are often two different things -- and the British team had the Midas touch when it came to
Dead or Alive,
Samantha Fox,
Rick Astley, and other '80s favorites. So, for
Donna Summer, working with them was a logical decision when, in 1989, she made a temporary return to a Euro-dance-pop setting. Produced, written, and arranged by
Stock, Aitken & Waterman, 1989's Another Place and Time is arguably
Summer's most European-sounding release since the late '70s. This CD came 14 years after the erotic "Love to Love You, Baby," and from a Euro-dance perspective (as opposed to a Top 40, adult contemporary or urban contemporary perspective),
Another Place & Time is one of the best albums that
Summer provided in the '80s. Critics can hate
Stock, Aitken & Waterman all they want, but the team certainly does right by
Summer on exuberant, club-friendly Euro-dance/Hi-NRG gems like "Whatever Your Heart Desires," "I Don't Wanna Get Hurt," and the hit "This Time I Know It's for Real." Not all of the songs are aimed at the dancefloor, but 90 percent of the time, this album is unapologetically dance-oriented. Contrary to popular wisdom, disco didn't really die with the '70s -- disco simply went high-tech and changed its name to dance-pop in the '80s, and it isn't hard to see the parallels between this release and
Summer's work with
Moroder and
Bellotte in the mid- to late '70s. Another Place and Time is an excellent CD that
Summer's fans should not overlook.