Here are The Cure albums in order: 14 studio records across 45 years, from Three Imaginary Boys in 1979 to Songs of a Lost World in 2024. Studio records only, so the live albums and compilations are not counted here, and they are not on the map either.
- Three Imaginary Boys (1979)
- Seventeen Seconds (1980)
- Faith (1981)
- Pornography (1982)
- The Top (1984)
- The Head on the Door (1985)
- Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)
- Disintegration (1989)
- Wish (1992)
- Wild Mood Swings (1996)
- Bloodflowers (2000)
- The Cure (2004)
- 4:13 Dream (2008)
- Songs of a Lost World (2024)
When I built my Cure discography map, those 14 records became the stations, and every credited musician became a named line calling at the albums they played on. What the list above cannot show you is what happens between the stations, and that is the part I find worth looking at.
One line runs the whole way
Robert Smith is on all 14. His is the only line on the map that never breaks, which is not true of most bands I have drawn. He is also credited with far more than vocals along the way: guitar throughout, but also keyboards, six-string bass, cello on "Cold", violin and recorder on The Top, harmonica as far back as "Subway Song" on the debut.
Simon Gallup is the next longest, on 12 of the 14. He is not on the 1979 debut, joins for Seventeen Seconds, and then the line stops dead at The Top in 1984 before resuming at The Head on the Door the following year and running unbroken to 2024. Drawn out, that single missing station is one of the most visible gaps on the whole sheet.
The album that changed the density
The debut carries four credited musicians: Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey, Lol Tolhurst and Porl Thompson. Wild Mood Swings in 1996 carries 19.
Most of that difference is strings and brass. Audrey Riley, Ronald Austin and Will Gregory on arrangements, four trumpet players, a trombone, three violins and two violas, plus two drummers brought in for specific tracks, Louis Pavlou on "Club America" and Mark Price on "Mint Car", "Trap" and "Treasure". On the map they arrive as a fan of short branch lines that touch one station and stop. It is the single busiest point in the band's career and it does not look like anything else on the sheet.
Lines that change what they carry
Lol Tolhurst is on the first eight albums, but not doing the same job. He is the drummer from 1979 to 1982, a keyboard player from The Top through to Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, and by Disintegration in 1989 he is credited with "other instrument" before the line ends. A discography list records eight albums. The credits record a role quietly dissolving.
Porl Thompson is the map's most interrupted line. He is on the 1979 debut, then absent for four records, back from The Top through to Wish, gone again, and then back once more for 4:13 Dream in 2008. Seven albums, two departures, two returns.
The 16 year gap
Between 4:13 Dream in 2008 and Songs of a Lost World in 2024 there is no studio album at all. On a chronological map that gap has to be drawn rather than skipped, and it is the widest space between two stations anywhere on the sheet. Reeves Gabrels appears on the far side of it, on the 2024 record.
The Cure albums in order, and what the map adds
A numbered list answers the question. A map answers the next one, which is who was actually in the room. Jason Cooper has been the drummer since Wild Mood Swings, five albums and 28 years. Roger O'Donnell's keyboard line appears, disappears and reappears across five records. Boris Williams runs through the four albums that most people would name as the band's peak, The Head on the Door, Kiss Me, Disintegration and Wish, and then stops.
Every one of those is a fact you can check in the credits. None of them is visible in a list of album titles.
How the print is made
Each map is a Giclée on 230gsm premium fine art paper with a textured matte finish, archival and acid-free. I research and draw every one by hand from album credits and session archives. No AI is used at any stage.
The Cure map is landscape, in two sizes: A2 at 594 x 420 mm (23 x 16 in) and A1 at 841 x 594 mm (33 x 23 in), with 24 x 18 in and 36 x 24 in equivalents for buyers in the USA. Every size comes unframed, from £42, or ready to hang in a black wood frame. Full detail is on the print specifications page.
Questions I get asked about the Cure map
How many studio albums did The Cure make?
Fourteen, between 1979 and 2024. That is what the map charts.
What is not on the map?
Live albums, compilations, EPs and singles collections are all off it, along with anything released after the artwork was finished. Producers are not given lines either, unless they are credited for playing something.
Which album has the most musicians on it?
Wild Mood Swings in 1996, with 19 credited musicians. The 1979 debut has four.
Who is on the most albums after Robert Smith?
Simon Gallup, on 12 of the 14, with one break at The Top in 1984.
Which size should I choose?
A2 suits a smaller wall or a desk. A1 is the one to pick if you want the names on the lines to be readable across a room.
Related music maps
If the Cure map appeals, the Smiths map is the opposite case, four albums with almost nobody outside the band on them. The wider music map collection covers the rest of the range, and if you are buying for someone whose band you are not sure of, there is an art print gift card.
