Disintegration is the eighth studio album by British
alternative rock band
The Cure, released on 2 May 1989 by
Fiction Records. The record marks a return to the introspective and gloomy
gothic rock style the band had established in the early 1980s. As he neared the age of thirty, vocalist and guitarist
Robert Smith had felt an increased pressure to follow up on the group's pop successes with a more enduring work. This, coupled with a distaste for the group's newfound popularity, caused Smith to lapse back into the use of
hallucinogenic drugs, the effects of which had a strong influence on the production of the album. The Cure recorded
Disintegration at
Hookend Recording Studios in
Checkendon, Oxfordshire, with co-producer
David M. Allen from late 1988 to early 1989. During production, founding member
Lol Tolhurst was fired from the band.