As he neared the age of 30, vocalist and guitarist Robert Smith had felt an increased pressure to follow up on the band'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.

It was greeted with a warm critical reception before later being widely acclaimed, including being placed at number 116 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2020.

[8][9] At the end of the Kissing Tour in support of the album, Smith became uncomfortable with the side effects of being a pop star and moved to Maida Vale (in West London) with fiancée Mary Poole.

Regularly taking LSD to cope with his depression, Smith once again felt the band was being misunderstood and sought to return to its dark side with their next record.

Displeased with the swollen egos he believed his bandmates possessed, Smith entered what he considered to be "one of my non-talking modes" deciding "I would be monk-like and not talk to anyone.

Despite the serious subject matter of the album, O'Donnell commented in 2009 that the atmosphere in the studio was still upbeat during the sessions: "I remember very clearly laughing and joking and fooling around in the control room while Robert was singing 'Disintegration', and then all of us trying to be serious when he came in to listen back.[...]

It was never a serious atmosphere in the studio, and when you think about the album and how dark it is, I'm sure people think we were sitting around slitting our wrists with candles and chains hanging from the walls.

"[17] Despite rumours that Smith was one of the only contributors to the record, he confirmed that more than half of the dozen tracks on Disintegration had substantial musical input from the rest of the band.

[17] Disintegration is characterised by a significant usage of synthesizers and keyboards, slow, "droning" guitar progressions and Smith's introspective vocals.

"Plainsong", the album's opener, "set the mood for Disintegration perfectly", according to biographer Jeff Apter, by "unravelling ever so slowly in a shower of synths and guitars, before Smith steps up to the mic, uttering snatches of lyrics ('I'm so cold') as if he were reading from something as sacred as the Dead Sea Scroll.

The album's third track, "Closedown", contains layers of keyboard texture complemented with a slow, gloomy guitar line.

"[20] Others, like the title track, are notable for "Smith's commanding lead guitar lines [that are] scaled to epic heights while at the same time buried in the mix, almost as if they're trying to burst from behind the upfront rhythm assault.

The lyrics had a noticeably different mood than the rest of the record, but Smith felt it was an integral component of the album: "It's an open show of emotion.

[26] In the US, due to its appearance in the film Lost Angels, the band's American label Elektra Records released "Fascination Street" as the first single.

[27] The international follow-up single to "Lullaby", "Lovesong", became the Cure's highest-charting hit in the United States, when it reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

[28] The success of Disintegration was such that the March 1990 final single "Pictures of You" reached number 24 on the British charts, despite the fact that the album had been released a year earlier.

[31] In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, music critic Michael Azerrad gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and felt that, "while Disintegration doesn't break new ground for the band, it successfully refines what the Cure does best".

Reviewer Barbara Ellen noted the large range of emotions in Smith's lyrics, "from deep, loving pink to an ugly, violent maroon and almost back again".

Writer Mat Snow observed: "The Cure have studied well the art of the tragic bass line, the hesitant and melancholy guitar lick, the funereal keyboard coloration".

"[43] Writer Chris Ott noted that "scant few albums released in the 1980s can boast an opener as grand as 'Plainsong', the most breathtaking, shimmering anthem the band ever recorded.

[59] Following completion of Disintegration, Smith noted that the Cure had "despite my best efforts, actually become everything that I didn't want us to become: a stadium rock band.

Smith and Gallup shared a fear of flight, and ultimately lamented the upcoming dates, wishing to reduce the number of concerts they booked.

The record label and tour promoters strongly disagreed, and even proposed to add several new shows to the itinerary because of the success of Disintegration in the US.

Pixies and Love and Rockets were the special guests on the biggest concerts of that tour,[60][61] in addition to the support act Shelleyan Orphan which was present on all the dates.

O'Donnell, after two years with the group, left to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by the band's guitar technician Perry Bamonte.

Smith, who was influenced by the acid house movement that had exploded in London that summer, released a predominantly electronic remix album, Mixed Up, in 1990.