Shades of Yellow (Nicky's Version)

Official Cover for Shades of Yellow (Nicky's Version)

***Shades of Yellow (Nicky's Version)*** is the third re-recorded album by American-Romanian singer-songwriter Nicholas Stewart, released on April 11, 2022, through Sunset Records. It is a re-recording of Stewart's sixth studio album, Shades of Yellow (2010), and the third of eight re-recorded albums Stewart plans to release, following the dispute regarding ownership of the masters to his first eight studio albums. The album consists of fourteen additional "from the Vault" songs not included on the 2010 album. Aside from recreating the instrumentation of the 2010 recording, there are also a few re-arrangements for most of the tracks and a few instrumental tracks were added that were supposedly included on the final cut but ended up just on the demos. All of the songs were written solely by Stewart.

*Shades of Yellow (Nicky's Version)* was preceded by two singles, "The Start of Something Grand (Nicky's Version)" and "We Live In A Castle (From The Vault)", The album received widespread acclaim, with its crisper production, renewed arrangements, and on-point aesthetics. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and in many other countries such as Japan, Sweden, France, and United Kingdom.

## Background and Production

Paul McCartney performing live on stage, 2021.Stewart released his sixth studio album, *Shades of Yellow*, in 2010 to critical and moderate commercial success. It was distributed by American record label Sunrise Records. It spent 4 weeks atop the US *Billboard* 200 chart. Critics reviewed *Shades of Yellow* positively, mostly praising its emotional evolution and free-spirited style, although some found it sonically sprawling, inconsistent, and a bit generic. The album was Stewart's least-selling record until his live album *ready. set. acoustic.* was released in 2021.

In 2016, having recorded eight studio albums under Sunrise Records, Stewart's contract with the label expired. He signed a new contract with rival record label Sunset Records. In 2017, Sunrise Records was acquired by Stewart's former friend and business partner Zark Mockingbird and his company The Blackstone Group Inc. As part of the acquisition, ownership of the masters to Stewart's first eight studio albums, including *Sweet Dreams*, transferred to Mockingbird. The master is the first recording of an audio recording, from which copies are made for sales and distribution; the owner of the master, therefore, owns all copies, such as digital versions for download or on streaming platforms, or physical versions available on CDs and vinyl records. In August 2017, Stewart denounced the purchase, and announced his intention to re-record his first eight studio albums so as to own their masters. Stewart stated on his Tumblr blog that Sunrise Records promised him as early as 1997 that he could buy the masters of his catalog with a condition, if only his next albums would sell a lot more and earn more money for the label to pay for the business contract, but they still didn't allow him to. In November 2017, Mockingbird sold Stewart's masters, videos and artworks, to The Blackstone Group Inc. for a reported $1.3 billion. Stewart began re-recording his back catalog in December 2017.

> *"At times when everything around you seemed peaceful and jolly, yellow was everything i can think of. Yellow symbolizes happiness and I was just very happy at that time. That was a story to tell. Just like the stories I told to you all on my songs."*
>
>

— Stewart looking back on *Shades of Yellow* and introducing its re-recording.

During the conception of the re-recorded album, Stewart continued with his tour bandmates Jude Garfield and Ryan Martin on the recording. A few instrumental tracks from the demo versions of the songs such as the flute, violin, and trumpet were added to the re-recordings of songs such as "I Found You", "Tombstones of the Unknown", "Faith", and "Phone Tap". A few re-arrangements were done with tracks such as "The Start of Something Grand", "Doing What We Like", and "Before June". Stewart collaborated with Paul McCartney for the vault track "Autumn Jam". Stewart decided to also re-record the acoustic version of "The Start Of Something Grand".

## Artwork

The album cover depicts Stewart wearing his yellow unbuttoned shirt with a white shirt underneath. His outfit was rumored to be the one he wore during his proposal to his then ex-wife Gina Walterz in 2009 which was seen on a posted video in the internet. The album cover was shot on the back garden of Stewart's mansion, where the proposal also happened.

## Release and promotion

On New Year's Day 2022, exactly midnight Eastern Time, Stewart announced his third re-recording *Shades of Yellow (Nicky's Version)* will be released on April 11, 2022. The lead single of the album "The Start of Something Grand (Nicky's Version)" was released on Valentines' Day, February 14, 2022. The single peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single and the first vault track of the album "We Live In A Castle (From The Vault)" was released on March 18, 2022. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became his first vault track to top the chart and his twenty-eight number one in the country. During the day of the release of *Shades of Yellow (Nicky's Version),* the standard physical copies were made available for pre-order on Stewart's website. CDs with collectible posters are available for pre-order exclusively at Target.

## Critical Reception

*Shades of Yellow (Nicky's Version)* was met with critical acclaim from music critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received a weighted mean score of 83 based on 30 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Rob Sheffield from *Rolling Stone* called the re-recorded album "overpowering" and a "career-capping masterpiece". Also in *Rolling Stone*, Nick Catucci wrote that just like 2010 original album, the re-recording was "evolutionary rather than revolutionary", and expanded that it "feels like an epiphany: free and unhurried, governed by no one concept or outlook, it represents Stewart at his most liberated". *Billboard*'s Jason Lipshutz summarized the re-recording as more flavorful than the 2010 release. Most critics praised the album's more cohesive production and the great addition of the vault tracks.

## Commercial performance

*Sweet Dreams (Nicky's Version)* experiences moderate commercial success worldwide, debuting at #1 on many countries in Europe and US. It opened atop the Billboard 200, selling 365,000 album equivalent units, including 242,000 pure album sales and 123,000 units from streaming, garnering 184M on-demand streams. It marked Stewart's sixteenth number one album in the US. As of 2028, the album was certified platinum by RIAA.

## Track listing

All tracks are written and produced by Nicholas Stewart.

## Personnel

### Musicians

* Nicholas Stewart - lead vocals; lead guitar; backing vocals percussion ; brushes ; guitar; programming; keyboard arrangements ; drums; acoustic guitar; piano; production coordinator; additional engineering; mastering; mixing
* Jude Garfield – drums
* Ryan Martin – bass guitar ; backing vocals

### Design

* Alli – art direction
* Ro-Starr – art direction, logos/design
* Christine Alicino – front cover photo
* Kate Garner – photography

## Charts

### Weekly Charts

**Peak chart positions for *Shades of Yellow (Nicky's Version)***

### Year-end charts

**Year-end chart positions for *Shades of Yellow (Nicky's Version)***

## Certifications and sales

 United Kingdom (BPI)
 United States (RIAA)
 Europe (IFPI)
 Worldwide