Indie and Alternative Music Map Art Prints: 23 Maps, 1979 to 2026
My indie and alternative music map art prints cover 23 maps of bands and solo artists, from The Cure's first album in 1979 to records released in 2026. Each print draws a career as a transit map. The studio albums are the stations in release order, and every credited musician is a line of their own.
This is the largest genre collection on the site, and the one where the maps connect to each other most. Several musicians have lines on more than one of these prints, and I have listed the ones I know of below.
The 23 Maps in the Collection
- The Smiths discography art print: four albums, seven musicians, and the two careers after
- Morrissey discography art print
- Johnny Marr discography art print: 19 releases, eight bands, 125 musicians
- The Cure discography art print: 14 albums, 1979 to 2024
- New Order discography art print: 21 albums, Joy Division, New Order, and the side projects
- Echo and the Bunnymen discography art print: 19 stations, 1980 to 2026
- Edwyn Collins discography art print: 14 albums, Orange Juice and solo
- Lloyd Cole discography art print: 17 albums
- Billy Bragg discography art print: 18 releases
- The The discography art print: 14 releases
- Nick Cave discography art print: 25 albums, 1979 to 2024
- R.E.M. discography art print: 15 studio albums
- Red Hot Chili Peppers discography art print: 13 albums
- Foo Fighters discography art print: 16 records across both bands
- Oasis discography art print: seven albums, 1994 to 2008
- Liam Gallagher discography art print: 13 records
- Noel Gallagher discography art print: eleven albums
- The Charlatans discography art print: 14 studio albums
- Manic Street Preachers discography art print: 15 albums, 1992 to 2025
- Radiohead discography art print: 17 albums
- Muse discography art print: ten albums
- Paul Weller discography art print: 21 releases
- Arctic Monkeys discography art print: seven albums, 2006 to 2022
Most of these carry studio albums only. The exceptions are labelled on the prints: the New Order and Radiohead maps include side projects as stations, and the Foo Fighters map opens with the three Nirvana albums.
Johnny Marr Is on Five of These Maps
The guitarist with the most lines across this collection is Johnny Marr. He has his own 19-station map. He is the bottom half of the Smiths map. He plays on three The The albums and on The Charlatans' Different Days (2017), and he has a line on Billy Bragg's map, where a trumpet player ends up outlasting him.
That is five prints with the same name on them, and it is the sort of thing you only find by reading the credits of every record rather than the biographies. The The The albums in order post shows which three.
Bands Where One Line Never Breaks
Several of these maps have a single line running the full width with everything else bending around it. The Cure has one line that runs all 45 years, from Three Imaginary Boys to Songs of a Lost World, and a bass line that breaks exactly once. The The has one full-width line, Matt Johnson's, and everyone else on the print is a visitor.
Radiohead's full-width line belongs to Thom Yorke alone; Jonny Greenwood is the only other member to follow him into The Smile. Nick Cave's line runs from Door, Door in 1979 through The Birthday Party, the Bad Seeds, and Grinderman to Wild God in 2024, which is 25 stations under four band names.
| Map | Full-width line | What bends around it |
|---|---|---|
| The Cure | Robert Smith, 1979 to 2024 | A founder who changes instrument twice, 20 names on Wild Mood Swings |
| The The | Matt Johnson, 45 years | 32 names on Infected, Johnny Marr on three albums |
| Radiohead | Thom Yorke, 17 stations | The Smile, Atoms for Peace, and the solo records |
| Nick Cave | Nick Cave, 25 stations | Four band names on one sheet |
| Echo and the Bunnymen | One line that never breaks | A station where the singer's line simply stops |
The Members Who Left and Came Back
Indie bands lose people. The maps draw the gaps. The Red Hot Chili Peppers map shows John Frusciante leaving twice and Dave Navarro lasting one album, with Rick Rubin getting no line at all because producers only earn one when they are credited playing something. Lloyd Cole has a line with a 19-year gap. Echo and the Bunnymen have the station where Ian McCulloch's line stops, the album the band made without him, and then it starts again.
Two Maps Where One Band Becomes Two
The Smiths map is two maps on one sheet: Morrissey along the top, Johnny Marr underneath, and the exact station where they separate. The Oasis map stops in 2008, and the Noel and Liam maps carry on from the same seven stations in different directions. Both pairs are compared in my guide to the two-maps-as-one prints.
Sizes and Framing
All 23 maps come in A3 (420 x 297 mm), A2 (594 x 420 mm), and A1 (841 x 594 mm), plus the separate 16 x 12 in, 24 x 18 in, and 36 x 24 in formats for the US, Canada, and Australia. Every size is supplied unframed or ready to hang in a wood frame. Giclée on 230gsm acid-free fine art paper, drawn manually in CAD, no AI at any stage.
Related Music Maps
Nine of these maps are Manchester bands and have their own guide, which of the Manchester maps to pick. The Cure, New Order, and The Smiths also sit in the born in the 1960s collection, which is where I would start if the person grew up with these records on cassette.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which bands are on the indie and alternative music maps?
Twenty-three maps, listed above, from The Smiths, The Cure, New Order, and Echo and the Bunnymen in the 1980s to Radiohead, Oasis, and the Manics in the 1990s and Arctic Monkeys in the 2000s.
Which indie music map has the most stations?
Nick Cave, with 25 albums across four band names, followed by New Order with 21 and Johnny Marr with 19 releases.
What is not on these maps?
Live albums, compilations, and greatest hits sets are not drawn. Each map stops at the most recent studio album when I drew it, and I update prints when a new album arrives, as I did for Johnny Marr and Echo and the Bunnymen in 2026.
Do any musicians appear on more than one of these maps?
Yes. Johnny Marr is on five of them. Dave Grohl runs across both bands on the Foo Fighters map. The Noel and Liam Gallagher maps share seven Oasis stations and one musician who crosses to both brothers after the split.
If You Cannot Decide Between Them
Twenty-three maps is a lot to choose from on someone else's behalf. The art print gift card covers any map on the site. If you know one thing about them, use it: a Smiths fan who argues about the split wants the split map, a Cure fan wants the 45-year line, and a Radiohead fan wants to see where the band stops and The Smile starts.
