The Orb discography

The discography of English electronic music group The Orb consists of twelve studio albums, one live album, six compilation albums, four remix albums, four mix albums, two video albums, ten extended plays, fifteen singles and twenty-two music videos. Founded by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty in 1988, the group's first release was the extended play Kiss EP, issued in May 1989. The single "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld", which marked the group's first foray into the ambient house genre, was released in October 1989 on Adam Morris and Martin Glovers record label WAU! Mr. Modo Recordings. It was later re-issued by Big Life and peaked at number 78 in the United Kingdom despite sample clearance issues. Following Cauty's departure from the group, The Orb signed a long-term recording contract with Big Life and released their debut studio album The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld in April 1991. It peaked at number 29 in the United Kingdom and has since been recognized as a seminal album of the ambient house genre. "Little Fluffy Clouds" and "Perpetual Dawn" were released as singles from the album.

The Orb's second studio album U.F.Orb was released in June 1992 and topped the United Kingdom albums chart. The album's second single "Blue Room" – at a length of 39 minutes and 57 seconds – became the longest-running release to enter the United Kingdom singles chart, where it peaked at number eight. Following the success of U.F.Orb, the group signed to Island Records and released the live album Live 93 on the label. "Little Fluffy Clouds" and "Perpetual Dawn" were re-issued and became top 20 hits in the UK. The Orb's third studio album Orbus Terrarum was released in April 1995, charting at number twenty in the UK and producing the single "Oxbow Lakes". Orblivion followed in February 1997 and peaked at number nineteen in the United Kingdom; it also became the group's first album to chart in the United States, peaking at number 174 on the Billboard 200 chart. "Toxygene" became their first UK top five single and also charted at number 23 in Ireland.

The Orb's fifth studio album Cydonia was released in February 2001 following several delays, peaking at number 83 in the United Kingdom. The group subsequently left Island Records and released several albums on assorted labels: Bicycles & Tricycles (2004) on Cooking Vinyl, Okie Dokie It's The Orb on Kompakt (2005) on Kompakt, The Dream (2007) on Liquid Sound Design and Baghdad Batteries (Orbsessions Volume III) (2010) on Malicious Damage. Metallic Spheres, a collaboration with English musician David Gilmour, was released in October 2010. It gave the group their highest-charting album in the UK since U.F.Orb, peaking at number twelve on the country's albums chart. Metallic Spheres also charted in several European countries, including Belgium, Greece and Ireland. The Orb then collaborated with Jamaican reggae musician Lee "Scratch" Perry on the albums The Orbserver in the Star House (2012) and More Tales from the Orbservatory (2013).