
As Tolhurst's alcohol consumption increased, the other band members would tease Tolhurst, leading Smith to later comment that his behaviour was similar to that of "some kind of handicapped child being constantly poked with a stick". Keyboardist Roger O'Donnell (who had recently been touring with The Psychedelic Furs), was soon hired as a second touring keyboardist. Despite the international success the band was now enjoying, internal friction was increasing due to Tolhurst's increasing alcoholism at the time. The band's 1987 double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me resulted in further commercial success, with a sold-out world tour booked in its wake. With the singles " In-Between Days" and " Close to Me", the band became a viable commercial force in the United States for the first time.

was to make a demented and calculated song like ' Let's Go to Bed'." Following the return of guitarist Porl Thompson and bassist Simon Gallup and the addition of drummer Boris Williams in 1984, Smith and keyboardist Lol Tolhurst continued to integrate more pop-oriented themes with the release of the group's sixth studio album The Head on the Door (1985). This shift is attributed to Smith's frustration over the band's labelling as a predictable gothic rock band: "My reaction to all those people . " The Love Cats" became the band's first single to infiltrate the top ten in the United Kingdom, peaking at number seven. Three singles were released during 19 that were a significant divergence in style essentially, pop hits. The Cure's second album Seventeen Seconds (1980) established it as a prominent gothic rock band, which would be followed up by Faith (1981), and Pornography (1982). 7.3 Online only: Alternative Rarities: 1988–1989.7.2 Disc three: Entreat Plus: Live at Wembley 1989.Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it the "culmination of all the musical directions the Cure were pursuing over the course of the '80s". It was greeted with a warm critical reception before later being acclaimed, eventually being placed at number 116 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

It remains the band's highest selling record to date, with more than four million copies sold worldwide.

The album became the band's first commercial peak, charting at number three in the United Kingdom and at number 12 in the United States, and producing several hit singles including " Lovesong", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Following the completion of the mixing, founding member Lol Tolhurst was fired from the band. The band recorded the album at Hookend Recording Studios in Checkendon, Oxfordshire, with co-producer David M. 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.

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. The record marks a return to the introspective gothic rock style the band had established in the early 1980s. Disintegration is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on by Fiction Records.
