Disintegration at 35: Why It Still Matters
A retrospective look at one of the most influential and beloved albums in alternative rock history.
When Disintegration was released on May 2, 1989, it arrived as a grand, slightly baffling gesture — a deliberately uncommercial double-down on atmosphere and melancholy from a band that had just had their biggest hit. The record label was reportedly unhappy. Radio programmers were unsure what to do with it.
Thirty-five years later, it is widely considered one of the greatest albums ever made.