Sweet Dreams (Nicholas Stewart album)

## Sweet Dreams

Cover for Sweet Dreams (2004)

*For the 2021 re-recording, see* Sweet Dreams (Nicky's Version).

***Sweet Dreams*** is the fourth studio album by American-Romanian singer songwriter Nicholas Stewart. It was released on November 8, 2004, by Sunrise Records. The album's title refers to what Stewart described as the opposite of what he experienced during the conception of the album. It is a rock opera centering on a sleep-paralysis demon Stewart kept on dreaming. The album tells the story of his apparent death, experiences in the afterlife, revenge and haunting.

Stewart tried to make a sudden shift of style to more pop punk sound. Stewart's influences for this album include the early releases of Goo Goo Dolls and Green Day. The songs on *Sweet Dreams* were based on Stewart's experience from suffering sleep-paralysis for more than two years even at the production of the album.

There were only three singles released on the album, "Get Wasted, I Drank A Vodka", "The Devil's Garden (Hallelujah)" and "Fingers For Breakfast, Tacos For Dinner". To promote the album, Stewart went on to embark his Sweet Dreams Tour which ran from August 2005 to April 2006.

*Sweet Dreams* was positively received for Stewart's lyrical prowess but divided critics on its vertigo-induced sound. The album received three nominations on the 48th Annual Grammy Awards and won two including Album of the Year, making it Stewart's second win.

## Background and Production

Most of his remaining tour dates in late 2003 and early 2004, Stewart was on therapy instead of rehearsing. His management decided to do the meet & greet session before the concert for Stewart to be able to rest after the show. During his 2006 MTV special, he shared that he would immediately "doze off to bed after shows during that time which turned out better than expected". He would hold his "Nick-Notes" notebook during his sleep in case a nightmare happens. At that time, Stewart's family was still a lot worried about his complaints that he hasn't still able to have a good sleep despite the therapy going on. He would often share about his recurring dreams about his "monster self" chasing him to death which soon became an inspiration for his next album. By October 2003, Stewart had already wrote more than 70 new songs on his notebook but most of them were too dark for the public to hear.

In November 2003, Stewart proposed a meeting with the label executives to plan for his new album that would be released sooner than what they think. He was offered to collaborate with co-producers but still, Stewart decided that this work would be better if he done it all just like what he imagined it to be. Recording sessions began in December 2003 and ended in May 2004. Stewart would turn off the lights while recording and scream all the lyrics while people from the studio were extremely worried about his condition. Sunrise Records executive Jimbo Cary opened up about him almost calling an exorcist to check on Stewart.

## Release and promotion

To bolster album sales, Stewart and Sunrise Records implemented an extensive marketing plan. Starting September 29, 2004, an advertisement on MTV was aired every midnight where Stewart invites fans to wear all-black and meet with him in Madison Square Garden on November 7, 2004 for an event called Countdown to Sweet Dreams Night, to be held hours before midnight strikes when the album is available to be bought. During the event night, over 130,000 fans attended wearing black outfits. As a result, it broke the Guinness World Record for most people wearing black in one room. Before midnight, Stewart performed three new tracks after performing "Get Wasted, I Drank A Vodka."

### Singles

Throughout 2004-2006, only three singles were released, "Get Wasted, I Drank A Vodka", "The Devil's Garden (Hallelujah)" and "Fingers For Breakfast, Tacos For Dinner". On July 12, 2004, Stewart released "Get Wasted, I Drank A Vodka", the lead single from his fourth studio album "Sweet Dreams". At the time physical sales were at its rock bottom, the single was doing poorly. It was Stewart's first lead single to not debut inside the top ten after his debut album. It debuted at #78 and went on to gradually climb and enter the top ten on its fourteenth week at #9. It went on to spend 37 weeks inside the top ten and reached #1 on its 48th week of charting, having the longest climb to #1 due to being overshadowed by songs dominating digital sales. The remaining two singles were also top ten hits as well, with the former peaking at #1.

### Tour

Stewart embarked his Sweet Dreams Tour which only has 60 shows in total compared to the 431 shows his previous world tour had, to prevent the incident that happened to him in the recent years. It ran from August 2005 to April 2006 and grossed over $170 million upon completion, making it one of the highest-grossing tours of all time.

On May 6, 2006, MTV aired a 2-episode documentary title *In Your Sweetest Dreams: Nicky Goes Live*, where it showed Stewart's full live performance of his show from Madison Square Garden, New York City in September 6, 2005 for his Sweet Dreams Tour and also features specials.

## Critical reception

**Review Scores**
 Exclaim.ca
 Sputnik Music
 The Quietus
 Mess+Noise
 Noisey
 NME
 Paste Magazine
 Rolling Stones
 Select

*Sweet Dreams* was met with widespread acclaim, praising Stewart's sudden shift to a darker tone in his music. Some critics also had a mixed review stating that the record was "too dark at its time". Dan Martin from *NME* compared the album to Green Day's *American Idiot*, positing that "it's a piece of work that will challenge every preconception you ever had about the people who made it." Tim Karan of Alternative Press called *Sweet Dreams* "Stewart's whole raison d'etre rolled up into one mega-decibel calling card". *IGN*'s Ed Thompson wrote, "*Sweet Dreams* is a rock and roll gem that celebrates everything that was over the top about the 1970s rock scene." David Fricke of *Rolling Stone* praised the classic rock feel of the album. *Entertainment Weekly* stated that "On his fourth studio album, a musical H-bomb of an effort, the Constantan soloist combined the rock-opera pomp of Queen with the darker, dirtier tones of their screamo past: Call it a Bro-hemian Rhapsody. Even without its broad concept — a sleep-paralysis demon haunting for revenge — Dreams stands as one of the most cohesive, engaging rock records of 2004." Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention saying, "In prog, a good sense of humor means so much."

## Commercial performance

On November 08, 2004, Stewart's fourth studio album "Sweet Dreams" was released. The media just expected it to sell under 500,000 copies considering his lead single didn't even reach number one at that time. The album outsold and exceeded expectations and shocked many as it sold faster than his previous release *Venom*, debuting at #1 with over 3.1 million copies, his second biggest first-week sales just below *Miles* which sold a staggering 3.3 million on its first week. Executives assumed the public may have been more hyped for the album than the singles itself. As a result, only three songs were singles throughout 2004-2006, "Get Wasted, I Drank A Vodka", "The Devil's Garden (Hallelujah)" and "Fingers For Breakfast, Tacos For Dinner." The album went on to spend eight weeks atop and spend eighty-seven weeks inside the top ten, twenty one weeks more than what his previous album *Venom* spent on that region. As of December 2026, it is certified 23x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for selling over 23 million units in the US and has sold 34 million copies worldwide, an impressive feat. for an album in the digital era. It instantly became the best-selling album of 2004.

In 2018, Billboard named *Sweet Dreams* as the best-charting album of all time, charting for more than ten years already.

Outside the United States, *Sweet Dreams* was also a massive success. In Canada, it debuted at #1 and spent three nonconsecutive weeks atop. It was certified quadruple platinum by the Music Canada for shipments exceeding 400,000 copies. In United Kingdom, it debuted at #2 with 140,000 copies sold, behind Black Bird's Blue. The following week, it reached #1 with 70,000 copies sold. It is certified 3x platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) denoting shipments over 900,000 copies. In Europe, it sold over 6 million copies and was certified 6x Platinum by IFPI. In Australia, it spent four nonconsecutive weeks at #1 and was certified 9x Platinum by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments exceeding 630,000 copies. Stewart still continued his dominance in Asia as it sold 3.5 million copies on the region. It was certified 2x Million by Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) denoting 2,000,000 shipments.

## Impact, legacy and controversy

*Sweet Dreams* appeared in publications' lists of the best albums of the 2000s decade alongside *Venom*. It was ranked at number 78 on the 2020 revision of *Rolling Stone*'s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In a list of the 50 greatest pop-punk albums of all time, *Rolling Stone* placed Stewart's Sweet Dreams at number 3 behind only Green Day's Dookie and Blink-182's Enema of the State. Rock Sound described *Sweet Dreams* as "intelligent, intriguing and utterly intoxicating...They will still be talking about this one in 50 years time."

In 2017, Stewart was announced as the first winner of Rock Sound's Hall of Fame Award as part of the Rock Sound Awards. At that time, Stewart already released his first-ever full rap album *OPERATION CANCELLED.* In an interview accompanying his win, he shared that this record saved his life at his darkest times.

The album was considered a cult classic, having the longest consecutive run on the Billboard 200, where it charted since its release and never left until the release of its re-recording. *New York Times* writer Jamaica Hikes remarked that "the power of this album, calling it a 'cult classic' is an understatement, as it marked the beginning of goth music prominence in the mid-2000s.". Other factor of its longevity is due to its rising popularity during Halloween, as the album receive surge in sales that week.

Years later after its release, Stewart was tagged as the "King of Emo", paving way for musicians to showcase emo pop punk music in the late 2000s. Stewart's sudden shift of fashion sense have surprised the media. Most of 2004, he would be seen wearing darker clothes than the previous years when he goes out of his penthouse. In the mid 2000s, emo fashion became a trend not just teenagers but also young adults.

### Death conspiracy theory

Stewart's gloomy appearance from 2001-2003 have made the public concerned, and even accused him for being a drug addict, in fact Stewart denied. With his way of clothing going darker in 2004, the media has been speculating that there's something weird happening. Conspiracy theorists began to speculate that Nicholas Stewart already died in February 2003 when he was hospitalized in Norway and was already replaced by a clone named Shaggy Amadeus. The tracks from Sweet Dreams were also reversed and subliminal messages were found according to theorists. The theory spread everywhere on the internet and was popular on Dark Web in the mid and late 2000s.

To clarify, Stewart talked about this in 2016 on his first guesting in Tonight with Jimmy Fallon that he found this theory ridiculous and somewhat silly. He told "I don't even know about that and I don't see the connection."

## Accolades

On the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, *Sweet Dreams* won Best Rock Album and also made Stewart rack up his second Album of the Year win. Its lead single "Get Wasted, I Drank A Vodka" also won Video of the Year in the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, making it his first to do so. The following year, Stewart won Video of the Year in the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards with "The Devil's Garden (Hallelujah)".

## Track listing

All tracks are written and produced by Nicholas Stewart.

***Sweet Dreams*** - Standard edition

***Sweet Dreams*** - deluxe edition

 16

## 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
* Gregory Stewart - food
* Mitch Stewart - distraction

## Charts

### Weekly Charts

**Peak chart positions for *Sweet Dreams***

### Year-end charts

**Year-end chart positions for *Sweet Dreams***

**Decade-end chart positions for *Miles***

 US *Billboard* 200
 US Top Rock Albums (*Billboard*)
 US Top Rock Albums (*Billboard*)