Nicholas (album)

*This article is about the debut album by Nicholas Stewart. For other albums by Stewart, see Nicholas Stewart albums discography.*

## Singles

### Single #4

Under PressureAugust 25, 1997

***Nicholas*** is the self-titled debut studio album by American-Romanian singer-songwriter Nicholas Stewart. It was released on February 3, 1997, through Sunrise Records. Stewart had migrated from Constanta, Romania to Huntington, New York, USA in 1985 and went on a long journey to pursue his musical career as a rock singer-songwriter. He signed with Sunrise Records in 1995, to work on his debut album at 20.

Stewart decided to self-write and self-produce his debut album as he wanted it to be on his own way. The lyrics are about Stewart's experiences as a teenager turning into adulthood, hardships he went through and also dealing with rejections and failed friendships. *Nicholas* is primarily a rock record with grunge and pop elements, incorporating acoustic instruments such as guitars and pianos. Four singles supported this album, including two top ten hits "Rescue Me" and "So Far Away", and Stewart's top twenty entry "Under Pressure" which peaked at #13. Stewart promoted the album by embarking a 7-month long tour before and after the release of the album.

Critics praised the album's mainstream sensibility and Stewart's writing and producing skills. It was nominated for Album of the Year and Rock Album of the Year at the 1998 Grammy Awards and Stewart won his Best New Artist nomination in the same award show. The album spent twenty-four weeks fluctuating on the top ten before reaching #1. It spent thirty-five weeks at the top ten and charted for three years before it ended its run. Certified nine times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it made Stewart the first solo male rock artist to write and produce every song on a multi-platinum debut album.

## Background

Instead of studying on universities, Stewart decided to just stay at town and study on a community college to be closer to his family and work as a waiter on a nearby eatery as a part-time job to at least provide money. At that time, his father Gregory was fired from his factory job and Stewart had to find another job to earn more money. Stewart had to drop out college to work on two part-time jobs to pay their apartment rent. Every past time, he grabbed his notebook (which he called "Nick-Notes") and wrote some random thoughts and make some tunes for fun. In 1992, his former music club mentor Harry Nimbus gave him a songwriting job for their band "Nimbus and the Rippers" in which he still hasn't earned enough to support his family due to the lack of attendees on their shows. In 1993, Nimbus encouraged Stewart to send the demo tapes he's been recording since high school to major music labels, hoping he could be accepted one day and didn't got an answer to one of them. To add his job list, he worked as a stand-up comedian and musician in a night club at 19.

At an open mic night in Shake Shack Cafe in 1995, Stewart caught the attention of many record label executives attending that night. Sunrise Records executive Jimbo Cory became the first to approach him a day after that night and offered him a Lifetime Recording Contract in 1995. Alongside Ashley Bunny and The Ultimatos, Stewart became one of the first signings of Sunrise Records. He began to work on his eponymous debut album shortly after.

## Development and Production

Among Stewart's inspirations were 1960s rock bands -- The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and The Monkees and one of the most popular rock bands in the early 1990s, Nirvana. He signed with Sunrise Records at age 21 and became a professional songwriter and producer, becoming the youngest artist to self-write and self-produce his own debut album. Stewart dropped his waiter job to focus more on making his debut record. He was even more motivated to pursue his music career with the full support of his family. He would sing his new songs to his siblings and they could tell if it's worth fitting for the record or not.

Stewart decided to be just the only writer on his debut album, saying he wanted this record to be what he likes to be. Cary became hesitant with this decision as he wasn't sure if this could pull of great results until he heard one of his recorded demo tapes. Around early 1996, for the preparation of his album launch, Stewart embarked on a tour with Sugar Ray and opened on their shows to promote his debut album which was prepared to be released in June. However, Stewart decided to move this to a later date to polish all of the tracks included on the record. He wrote 30 new songs for this record and picked 6 songs he wrote during his teenage years and only 12 of them made into the cut. Recording took place from March 1995-January 1996 and resumed on May 1996 for polishing until September 1996.

## Commercial performance

*Nicholas* enjoyed commercial success in the United States. Its release date was considered a late period release for new rising artists. Label executive Cory stated that it would be better to release post-January slump for bigger sales and nothing to worry about competition because grunge is on a rising popularity. Despite the popularity of his debut single, Stewart wasn't expecting his album to sell that much on its first week. The album debuted at #10, selling 70,000 copies first week and became one of the biggest debuts by a debut album. After two months of fluctuating inside the top 15, the album re-entered on the top ten and started increasing as time went by, peaking at #1 on its twenty-fifth week after Stewart's SNL performance. The album went to stay on the chart until mid 2000. Ever since the release of his album, Stewart didn't expect the stability and success his album got: "I don't really care about Gold, Platinum records or what to act to sell them. I'd be happy if people would give it a try." On its twenty-fifth week of charting, *Nicholas* topped the Billboard 200, reaching its highest sales week with over 202,000 copies sold that week, thanks to Stewart's Saturday Night Live performance. The album achieved its biggest sales week on holiday week 1997, charting at #12, selling 243,000 copies. By the end of 1997, the album already sold 5 million copies in the United States and was certified 9x Platinum by RIAA by the end of 2000.

In other countries, *Nicholas* peaked top ten except in Asian countries. In Canada, it was certified 4x Platinum by Music Canada (MC). In United Kingdom, it was certified Platinum by British Phonographic Industry (BPI) with sales over 300,000. It was certified 3x Platinum by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for selling 3 million copies in Europe. The album was a sleeper hit in Australia and was certified Platinum by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) by the end of 1999.

## Track listing

All tracks are written and produced by Nicholas Stewart.

***Nicholas*** - Standard edition

***Nicholas*** - International bonus track

 14

## Charts

### Weekly Charts

**Peak chart positions for *Nicholas***

 Canadian Albums (Billboard)
 Irish Albums (IRMA)
 Japanese Albums (Oricon)
 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
 Scottish Albums (OCC)
 UK Albums (OCC)
 US Billboard 200
 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)
 US Top Catalog Albums (Billboard)

### Year-end charts

**Year-end chart positions for *Nicholas***

### Decade-end charts

**Decade-end chart positions for *Nicholas***

 US Top Rock Albums (*Billboard*)

### All-time charts

**All-time chart positions for *Nicholas***

## Certifications and sales

 Canada (MC)
 United Kingdom (BPI)
 Worldwide