It's been 20 years since New Kids on the Block took the world and seemingly every teenage girl's heart by storm. But when all five Kids, now men -- Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood, and Jordan and Jonathan Knight -- entered the AOL Sessions studio in Los Angeles in support of their first album in nearly 15 years, titled The Block, it was if no time had passed at all.

- Check out pictures from the session

The group, who, since disbanding in the mid '90s, has seen several solo musical careers, as well as acting, was greeted by a bevy of fans who sat in on the four-song performance -- tears and all. It was this kind of mania that made NKOTB an international phenomenon the first time 'round, and the same that will see the Kids through their reunion. And this time, they know what they're in for.

AOL: How does it feel to have been away nearly two decades and come back to this kind of fan support?

DONNIE: The reaction is just incredible. When we started this, we were full of nothing but audacity. We were committed to making music and to giving this thing a shot again. There were a lot of people on the way who didn't want to work with us -- didn't think that this would ever work again. But we believed in what we were doing. We kept pushing forward with the music. For all the fans to come back the way they did and with such loyalty it's been absolutely unbelievable. Nobody could have predicted it. A lot of critics tend to knock off teenage fans of boy bands, but 20 years later, for these fans to come back, it obviously speaks to the connection we had with them. And maybe when they write an article about the Jonas Brothers and their screaming fans, they should think about that. Maybe those fans do know something.

AOL: Who was the first artist to sign on when you began working on the reunion record?

DONNIE: I got a CD from our old music lawyer, who I just happened to visit that day last summer, and I heard two amazing songs. I shot over to Jordan's house, played it for him and he loved it. I called Joe, sent it to him, he loved it. I immediately tried to track this kid down. He's this 23-year-old songwriter named Nasri from Canada, and it turns out was a huge fan of the group when he was a little kid. I told him how much I loved the song and that we were interested in recording it. He really inspired us; he was very energetic and enthusiastic, and had these beautiful songs. They were songs that challenged us and made us work hard. But when we finished them we had a great sense of confidence that we could really do this again. It just started from there. We didn't waste time trying to convince people who weren't believers. We just went towards our goal, which was to make great music.

AOL: It sounds like the impetus for the reunion was the music itself.

DONNIE: Absolutely. The music was everything. We have an opportunity here to do something that no one has the chance to do, really. We were never really known as a musical band. We were known as an entity -- a pop machine. We all believed that music had to lead the way [this time] for it be taken seriously and, quite honestly, for us to take it seriously. I don't think many of us were interested in, "let's go scoop up the money and run around the world tour and never be heard again." We wanted to challenge ourselves. We wanted to be committed to doing this. The sacrifice it takes to do this -- leaving your families, the things you love to do -- it's a big sacrifice. None of us were believing in going out and doing a nostalgic trip. This is a great chance for us to all celebrate the past, the present and the future with us and our fans, and that's what we're gonna do.

AOL: What's it like to watch bands like the Backstreet Boys and Jonas Brothers, who found success through similar veins as NKOTB?

DONNIE: I don't know that we really try to take responsibility for that. And let me just clarify one thing with the critics: we don't think we were the greatest group in the history of the world. We were a big group, but there were times we deserved criticism. Some of our songs weren't good, some of our performances weren't good. There were times we were better than we were ever given credit for and we worked harder than we were ever given credit for, and we were probably more real than anyone ever gave us credit for. But there were times when some of our songs were crap and deservingly, they were criticized.

But as for the other groups, I don't really think we think about them too much. For Backstreet Boys and NSync, one of the things that I did notice was that it was probably hard for them. There was a lot of backlash at radio and MTV towards us, so for those guys to break through, they had to really be committed and work hard. We didn't infuse those people with preservation, drive and dedication. You have it or you don't, and you're willing to pick yourself off the mat or you're not. We came from the bottom of the gutter. What other groups do doesn't matter to us. Good luck to them.

AOL: Are there any old songs you have a newfound appreciation for that you plan to perform on the reunion tour?

JOEY: I don't want to give anything away but we're singing all our hits, so when people come to see us they're not gonna be disappointed. But 'Didn't I Blow Your Mind' comes to mind for some reason. It was a cover song, but I just thought it was classic. We were the first boy band or whatever you want to call it, but we almost immediately point back to New Edition. They came from our hometown and were our idols, and that connection is very special for us.

AOL: How eager are you to perform the new material? Do you think it will be well-received with fans?

DONNIE: The album's hot. We're very excited about it. There are songs that are fun -- songs that give us an opportunity to do music in the way that we'd always wanted but never really had the opportunity to. There are songs that have a really significant personal meaning, and songs that are just tributes to the fans. Like 'Summertime' -- it's a song about the fans and that magical summer of 1988 when we all sort of discovered each other. I hope the fans will be satisfied, but most importantly, we have a good sense of self-satisfaction, and that's really a life lesson you learn through time.You put the music out there, let them discover it, but if you feel great about it and you can stand behind it, that's really most important.

AOL: How will you experience this time around versus when you first started, given what you achieved during that time?

JOEY: What you learn from these kind of experiences -- insecurities, fears and doubts, ins and outs, and just all the emotion of discovering things and trying to be creative -- it's such a gift. To do that with people you love and you have a history with is really, really cool. As far as the past, we're ready. We all had time to go out and live and make mistakes. We had to do that if we were gonna do this ever again.

AOL: The five of you have been through the trials and triumphs of success together. How does it feel to be sitting together, talking music and performing once more?

DONNIE: We went through something that very few people get to go through. We lived in the eye of a very crazy storm, and the reality is at its craziest -- when we looked around -- the only people there were us who really understood what that experience is like. We kind of had to protect each other. There's a recognition of a certain brotherhood that really you can't define. We shared an incredible experience during really some of the most important years of our lives, and that bond clicks pretty much immediately, especially when you know you're about to take that venture again. When Joe, Jordan, Danny, John and me are in the studio recording or in rehearsal, we know every possibility out there. We understand it and it sort of gives us a common purpose without even ever having to talk about it.

--Steve Baltin

- Download New Kids On The Block with iTunes
- Buy New Kids On The Block on CD from Amazon
- Visit New Kids On The Block official site
- Search: New Kids On The Block

More

- Air Traffic
- Andrea Corr
- Ash
- Bright Eyes
- CSS
- Editors
- Interpol
- James Blunt
- Kelly Clarkson
- Linkin Park
- Maroon 5
- Natasha Bedingfield
- Robyn
- Scarlett Johansson
- Unklejam
- Wilco

great

- Avril Lavigne
- Daughtry
- Ghosts
- Hard-Fi
- Joss Stone
- Kings Of Leon
- Lady Sovereign
- Lupe Fiasco
- NKOTB
- Scott Matthews
- Snoop Dogg
- The Enemy
- The Feeling
- The Fratellis
- The Kooks
- The Fray

music

- Adele
- Cat Power
- Fergie
- Foals
- Gwen Stefani
- Lil Chris
- Jojo
- Josh Pyke
- KT Tunstall
- Manic Street Preachers
- Muse
- Nas
- Nicole Scherzinger
- Paul Weller
- Rihanna
- The Killers