"This Time I Know It's for Real" is a song by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer, released on February 13, 1989, as the first single from her 14th studio album, Another Place and Time (1989), by Atlantic Records and Warner Bros. Records. Like the rest of the album, the song was written and produced by the British Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) team, though Summer also had a hand in writing this song. Summer became aware of SAW after her husband, Bruce Sudano, drew her attention to their work during a visit to Europe. She was further encouraged by Rick Astley's subsequent success, saying she "loved his production". Hitting it off with the producers immediately, Summer recalled that the song came together on their first day working together, a rare case of "hitting the nail on the head the first time". While she was enthusiastic, her then US label boss David Geffen wanted a rockier sound with more guitars from the SAW sessions, a dictate which was immediately refused by Pete Waterman. The song became Summer's biggest hit in the United Kingdom since the 1970s (during which time she had been the most popular female disco artist), reaching number three and spending a total of 14 weeks in the UK Singles Chart top 75, longer than any of her other singles there. It also reached number seven in both the United States and Canada, becoming her 14th and final US top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the last top-40 hit of Summer's career. The song was also successful on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at number two. With Geffen Records ending her US deal due to an impasse over the new material, this was Summer's first US single to be released on Atlantic Records. Since 1980 she had been signed to Geffen, but her work across Europe had always been distributed by Warner Bros.' main label. This would continue to be the case following her signing to Atlantic. Critical reception Alex Henderson from AllMusic described the song as a "exuberant, club-friendly Euro-dance/Hi-NRG" gem. Jim Arundel from Melody Maker declared it as "gloriously driven, simple, joyous and just a bit sad too." Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "Very much a SAW production with Summer's voice adding a touch of class. Her first chance of a major hit since 1983's 'She Works Hard for the Money'." In