Manchester Music Map: Nine Prints, 1979 to 2026, Studio Records Only
A Manchester music map plots one band's studio albums as stations and each credited musician as a line, and there are nine of them in this collection, spanning 1979 to 2026. A line only runs where that person is actually credited playing on the record, so the map shows you who stayed, who left and who came back.
I research and draw all of these myself, and the hard part is never finding something with a band name on it. The hard part is picking the one band, out of a city that produced about six of them worth arguing over. So this is my honest guide to choosing between them.
Every map in the Manchester Bands Tube Map Art Prints collection is built to the same grammar. What changes between them is the shape the credits make, and that is the whole reason to compare them before you buy.
Oasis Discography Tube Map Art Print
The obvious Manchester starting point, with the shifting rhythm section drawn line by line behind the two constants.
Explore These Art PrintsThe Nine Maps, and the Credit That Makes Each One Worth Hanging
Nine maps cover nine very different shapes of career. One is a single unbroken line across four decades, one is a band that lost two members and kept going, one is a guitarist who never stayed still.
| Map | Releases and span | Who it is for | What the credits show |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fall | 31 studio albums, 1979 to 2017 | The completist who reads sleeve notes | Mark E Smith is the only name on all 31, and Martin Bramah leaves twice |
| Joy Division and New Order | 21 releases from 1979 | Anyone whose Manchester starts at Factory Records | Seven band names grown out of the same four people |
| The Smiths | 4 studio albums, 1984 to 1987 | The purist who stops at 1987 | Marr, Rourke and Joyce run all four albums, then stop dead |
| Morrissey and The Smiths | The Smiths records plus the solo run, 1984 to 2026 | The fan who followed him out of the band | Boz Boorer joins on Your Arsenal in 1992 and is still there in 2022 |
| Johnny Marr | Eight bands plus five solo albums | The guitarist, or anyone who says Marr is the real story | Denise Johnson sings on three records across two different projects |
| The Charlatans | 14 studio albums plus two Tim Burgess solo records, 1990 to 2025 | The one who arrived with Britpop and stayed | Rob Collins's keyboard line stops at Tellin' Stories in 1997 |
| Oasis | 7 studio albums, 1994 to 2008 | The one who wants the arc everybody knows | Tony McCarroll hands the drums to Alan White inside one album |
| Liam Gallagher | 13 releases, 1994 to 2024, three band names | The one who picked Liam | C'mon You Know carries 33 credited names, the John Squire album five |
| Noel Gallagher | 11 releases, 1994 to 2023, two band names | The one who picked Noel | Mikey Rowe plays keyboards under both band names, 1997 to 2023 |
All nine come in A3 at 420 x 297 mm, A2 at 594 x 420 mm and A1 at 841 x 594 mm, unframed or in a black wood frame, printed as Giclée on heavy art paper. Buyers in the US, Canada and Australia get three separate inch formats, 16x12 in, 24x18 in and 36x24 in.
Mark E Smith Is the Only Name on All 31 Fall Albums, and Martin Bramah Leaves Twice
When I built The Fall map I logged every credited musician across all 31 studio albums, from Live at the Witch Trials in 1979 to New Facts Emerge in 2017. Exactly one line runs the full width of the sheet, and it is Mark E Smith's. Everybody else is a branch off it.
The best bit of the whole map is Martin Bramah. He is there on the 1979 debut, then his line stops dead for a decade, restarts for Extricate in 1990 and Shift-Work in 1991, stops again, and appears one final time on Levitate in 1997. Three separate spells, visible at a glance, which is not something a tracklist poster can do.
The album with the most credited musicians is Extricate at eleven. New Facts Emerge, the last one, has five. Watching the band swell and shrink is the thing Fall fans stand in front of for ten minutes.
This is the map for the obsessive, the person who owns the live bootlegs and has opinions about the Brix years. If you want the longer version of the research, I wrote it up in my post on The Fall map.
Rob Collins Stops at Tellin' Stories, and Martin Duffy Appears Exactly Once
The Charlatans map carries the two hardest moments in the band's history without needing a caption. Rob Collins's keyboard line runs from Some Friendly in 1990 to Tellin' Stories in 1997 and then stops, because he died during those sessions. Martin Duffy of Primal Scream appears on that album and on no other, which is exactly what happened.
Jon Brookes drums on the Charlatans records from 1990 to Who We Touch in 2010, and his line ends before Modern Nature in 2015. Peter Salisbury of The Verve picks up the drums from Modern Nature onwards. Two losses, two continuations, all readable in about four seconds.
The map also takes in Tim Burgess's solo records, I Believe in 2003 and Oh No I Love You in 2012, because the sheet I keep treats them as part of the same story. Different Days in 2017 is the busiest station on the whole map at nineteen credited names, including the novelist Ian Rankin and the writer Sharon Horgan alongside Paul Weller and Anton Newcombe. There is also a full album-by-album write-up in my Charlatans albums in order guide.
Denise Johnson Turns Up on Three Marr Records Across Two Different Bands
The Johnny Marr map is the one people underestimate. It runs four Smiths albums, two by The The, three by Electronic, two 7 Worlds Collide records, The Healers, Modest Mouse, The Cribs and five solo albums. Almost nobody realises how many separate bands that is until they see it laid out.
The name I keep coming back to is Denise Johnson. She sings on Electronic in 1991, returns for Raise the Pressure in 1996, and turns up again on The Healers' Boomslang in 2003. Three appearances, twelve years apart at the ends, across two entirely different projects.
The guest list around her is absurd in the best way. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe on Electronic, Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk on Raise the Pressure, Sinéad O'Connor on The The's Dusk, Zak Starkey drumming on Boomslang, Eddie Vedder and three Finns on 7 Worlds Collide. My Johnny Marr albums in order post goes through those in detail.
The Names That Cross From One Manchester Map to Another
This is the argument for giving two of these rather than one. Manchester is small, and once you have the credit sheets side by side the same people keep reappearing on other bands' records.
| Musician | On one map | And on another | Why it is worth seeing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Marr | His own map: The Smiths, The The, Electronic, five solo albums | The Charlatans, Different Days (2017) | The two maps literally share a station |
| Paul Weller | Noel's map: Champagne Supernova (1995) and organ on Who Built the Moon? (2017) | The Charlatans, Different Days (2017) | Twenty two years between his two Gallagher credits |
| Gem Archer | Liam's map: Oasis from 2002 straight through to Beady Eye's Be (2013) | Noel's map: Oasis 2002 to 2008, then nothing until Council Skies (2023) | One man, two maps, two completely different shapes |
| Stephen Street | Morrissey and The Smiths: plays bass and guitar on Strangeways (1987) and Viva Hate (1988) | The Charlatans, We Are Love (2025): produced two tracks and played nothing | The same man, the same rule, two different outcomes |
| Donald Johnson (A Certain Ratio) | Electronic (1991) and Raise the Pressure (1996) | The Charlatans, Different Days (2017) | Twenty six years between the two credits |
| Ged Lynch | Marr's Raise the Pressure (1996) and Twisted Tenderness (1999) | The Charlatans, Wonderland (2001), Up at the Lake (2004), Simpatico (2006) | Leaves one map and settles on the other |
| Stephen Morris | The Joy Division and New Order map, all the way through | The Charlatans, Modern Nature (2015) and Different Days (2017) | Gillian Gilbert joins him on Different Days |
| Denise Johnson | Electronic (1991), Raise the Pressure (1996) | Johnny Marr and The Healers, Boomslang (2003) | Three credits inside a single map, spread over twelve years |
If the person you are buying for loves two of these bands, a pair of A2 prints side by side is the one that actually rewards a second look.
Simon Rogers Produced The Infotainment Scan, So He Loses His Station
I have one rule that decides who gets a line and who does not. A producer only appears if they are also credited playing something on that record, and The Fall gives me the cleanest example of it anywhere in the collection.
Simon Rogers plays on This Nation's Saving Grace in 1985, Bend Sinister in 1986 and The Frenz Experiment in 1988, so he has a line across those three. He comes back in 1993 for The Infotainment Scan as producer only, and my sheet marks him PROD for that album. No instrument, no station.
Stephen Street is the version of this that runs across two maps. On the Charlatans' We Are Love in 2025 he produced two tracks and played nothing, so he gets no line there. On the Morrissey and Smiths sheet he is credited on bass and guitar on Strangeways, Here We Come in 1987 and again on Viva Hate in 1988, so he does. Same man, same rule, opposite results.
Dev Hynes is the other half of that test on We Are Love. He produced it and is also credited on synthesizer, guitar, piano and backing vocals, so he is on the map. Fans notice this rule once it is pointed out, and it is the thing that makes them trust the rest of the sheet.
Joy Division to New Order, and the Three Ways Into Oasis
The Joy Division and New Order map is the one for anyone whose Manchester begins at Factory Records. It covers 21 releases and the offshoot bands that grew out of the same four people, which is a lot more branching than most fans expect. I broke it down in my Joy Division and New Order post.
Then there is the Oasis map, plus separate Liam and Noel maps for people who have already picked a side. The two solo sheets diverge in a way I did not expect: Noel's ends on Council Skies in 2023 with 42 credited names, the largest cast anywhere in this collection, while Liam's peaks at 33 on C'mon You Know in 2022 and then drops to five for the John Squire record in 2024. I set out that choice in my guide to the three Oasis maps.
The Smiths and Morrissey maps split the same way, and Marr's gets a third. I compared all three in my Smiths collection guide.
Which Manchester Music Map Suits Which Listener
The table above is the short answer, but two choices come up more than any other. For the completist, The Fall: 31 albums and 56 musicians gives them the most to work through, and the Bramah gaps start a conversation every time somebody new walks into the room.
For anyone who came to the city through Britpop, it is The Charlatans or Oasis, both of which have a clear arc and a guest list that surprises people who thought they knew the records. A3 is the one to test the water with. A1 is worth it for The Fall or the Marr map specifically, because both carry enough lines that the extra width genuinely helps.
Questions I Get Asked About These Nine
Are live albums and compilations on these maps?
No. The maps plot studio records only, which is an editorial rule I apply across the whole catalogue. Live albums, compilations and soundtracks are left off, so The Fall map runs 31 studio albums rather than the much larger total you will see on a discography listing. Where a map does take in something other than a studio album, such as Tim Burgess's solo records on the Charlatans sheet, I say so.
They love one Manchester band and are lukewarm on the rest. Is a city-wide print wasted on them?
Buy the single band map instead. Every one of these nine is one band or one musician's career, so nothing gets diluted with acts they do not care about.
Does the Charlatans map really include Tim Burgess's solo albums?
Yes, both of them, I Believe from 2003 and Oh No I Love You from 2012. They sit in the run in the right chronological places, which is how the credit sheet I keep has always treated them.
Why is Johnny Marr on the Charlatans map as well as his own?
Because he is credited on Different Days in 2017. I map what the record says, not what the band photo says, which is the whole point of the exercise.
Can I buy two and have them match?
Yes, and it is the most common order I get from this collection. Same size, same paper, same frame, and the shared names in the table above give the pair a reason to hang together.
Where to Start
Browse the whole Manchester bands collection and see which cover stops them. If the person you are buying for is a Manchester fan by geography rather than by one band, the wider Music Wall Art Prints collection has the rest of the catalogue, including the bands who left the city and the ones who never quite did.
Any of them arrives as a Giclée print in A3, A2 or A1, unframed or in a black wood frame. If you cannot decide which of the nine, a gift card lets them pick their own. I draw and research every one of these myself, so if you want a second opinion, ask me and I will tell you honestly.
