One Size Fits All-4-One

A little over a year later, All-4-One were accepting their Grammy for Best Group Vocal. ''I didn't see them for four or five months, and I was wondering what this was all going to do to them,'' says Gary St. Clair, who coproduced the new album. ''But they came back the same guys: 'Can we go to McDonald's?'''

As on their debut effort, group members wrote or cowrote half the album's dozen tracks. But the singers, though they demanded to be more involved in the recording process this time around, are still not in charge. Control remains with O'Brien and the album's producers (including Grammy winner David Foster, who produced ''I Swear'' and the new album's first single ''I Can Love You Like That'').

''It gets stressful sometimes,'' admits Kennedy. ''I hear myself and I want to get it perfect. If everyone is going to go out and buy it — a million copies — you don't want it to be, 'Oh, here's the part where I messed up.' I just never feel I've done it well enough.''

But he has. And during the day's final playback of ''We Dedicate,'' All-4-One crowd into the control room, ears pressed close to speakers. They're waiting to hear those voices, that seamless four-part vocal mix.

When it's over, Jones smiles and shouts, ''Frank Sinatra, baby!'' And as these neophyte pop stars wander back into the studio for the next bit of recording, Kennedy croons confidently, ''Start spreading the news....''