The Orb discography

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The discography of European electronic music group the Orb includes eighteen studio albums, one live album, eight compilation albums, four remix albums, four mix albums, two video albums, ten extended plays, thirty-four singles and twenty-two music videos. Founded by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty in 1988,[1] the group's first release was the extended play Kiss EP, issued in May 1989.[2] 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 Glover's record label WAU! Mr. Modo Recordings.[2] It was later re-issued by Big Life and peaked at number 78 in the United Kingdom despite sample clearance issues.[3] 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.[2][4] It peaked at number 29 in the United Kingdom and has since been recognized as a seminal album of the ambient house genre.[5] "Little Fluffy Clouds" and "Perpetual Dawn" were released as singles from the album.

Studio albums19
EPs10
Live albums1
Compilation albums8
Quick facts Studio albums, EPs ...
The Orb discography
Two men perform music using various mixing boards and turntables.
The Orb performing at Culture Box in Copenhagen in 2005
Studio albums19
EPs10
Live albums1
Compilation albums8
Singles34
Video albums2
Music videos22
Remix albums4
Mix albums4
Close

The Orb's second studio album U.F.Orb was released in June 1992 and topped the United Kingdom albums chart.[6] The album's second single "Blue Room" – at a length of 39 minutes and 57 seconds – became the longest-running release to enter the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number eight.[3][7] Following the success of U.F.Orb, the group signed to Island Records and released the live album Live 93 on the label.[2] "Little Fluffy Clouds" and "Perpetual Dawn" were re-issued and became top 20 hits in the UK.[6] 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".[3][6] 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.[6][8] "Toxygene" became their first UK top five single and also charted at number 23 in Ireland.[3][9]

The Orb's fifth studio album Cydonia was released in February 2001 following several delays, peaking at number 83 in the United Kingdom.[6] 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.[2] Metallic Spheres, a collaboration with former Pink Floyd 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.[6] Metallic Spheres also charted in several European countries, including Belgium, Greece and Ireland.[10][11][12][13] 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). More recently, the Orb have returned to their ambient roots, collaborating with Roger Eno and other musicians to produce Moonbuilding 2703 AD in 2015, COW / Chill Out, World! in 2016 and No Sounds Are Out of Bounds in 2018.

Albums

Studio albums

More information Title, Album details ...
List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
UK
[6]
UK
Dance

[6]
BEL
[10]
GER
[14]
GRC
[12]
IRL
[13]
NLD
[15]
US
[8]
US
Dance

[8]
US
Rock

[8]
The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld 29
U.F.Orb
  • Released: 6 July 1992[17]
  • Label: Big Life, Mercury
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
1
Pomme Fritz
  • Released: 13 June 1994 (UK)[18]
  • Label: Island
  • Formats: CD, cassette, 12"
6
Orbus Terrarum
  • Released: 4 April 1995 (UK)[19]
  • Label: Island
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
20
Orblivion
  • Released: 24 February 1997 (UK)[20]
  • Label: Island
  • Formats: CD, LP
19174
Cydonia 83
Bicycles & Tricycles 10722
Okie Dokie It's The Orb on Kompakt
  • Released: 26 October 2005 (JPN)[23]
  • Label: Kompakt
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
The Dream
  • Released: 19 September 2007 (JPN)[24]
  • Label: Liquid Sound Design, Six Degrees, Traffic
  • Formats: CD, digital download
175
Baghdad Batteries (Orbsessions Volume III)
  • Released: 7 September 2009 (UK)[25]
  • Label: Malicious Damage
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
Metallic Spheres
(featuring David Gilmour)
  • Released: 11 October 2010 (UK)[26]
  • Label: Columbia
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
123349521654073323
The Orbserver in the Star House
(featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry)
  • Released: 28 August 2012 (UK)[27]
  • Label: Cooking Vinyl
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
9313423
More Tales from the Orbservatory
(featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry)
  • Released: 3 June 2013 (UK)[28]
  • Label: Cooking Vinyl, The End
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
191
Moonbuilding 2703 AD
  • Released: 22 June 2015[29]
  • Label: Kompakt
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
901915884
COW / Chill Out, World!
  • Released: 14 October 2016[30]
  • Label: Kompakt
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
9116
No Sounds Are Out of Bounds
  • Released: 22 June 2018[31]
  • Label: Cooking Vinyl
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
514
Abolition of the Royal Familia
  • Released: 27 March 2020
  • Label: Cooking Vinyl
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
62299
Prism
  • Released: 28 April 2023
  • Label: Cooking Vinyl
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
851
Buddhist Hipsters
  • Released: 10 October 2025
  • Label: Cooking Vinyl
  • Formats: CD, LP, digital download
771
Close

Live albums

More information Title, Album details ...
List of live albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
UK
[6]
Live 93
  • Released: 22 November 1993 (UK)[32]
  • Label: Island
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
23
Further Adventures Beyond Dark Matter
  • Released: 2 September 2014 (UK)[34]
  • Label: Abbey Road Studios
  • Formats: CD, DVD, MP3
The Orb's Further Adventures
  • Released: 21 February 2016 (UK)[35]
  • Label: Live Here Now
  • Formats: CD, DVD, LP, audio and video downloads
Close

Compilation albums

More information Title, Album details ...
List of compilation albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
UK
[6]
U.F.Off: The Best of The Orb
  • Released: 2 October 1998 (UK)[36]
  • Label: Island
  • Formats: CD, LP
38
Orbsessions Volume One
  • Released: 18 October 2005 (UK)[37]
  • Label: Malicious Damage
  • Formats: CD, LP
Orbsessions Volume Two
  • Released: 4 June 2007 (UK)[38]
  • Label: Malicious Damage
  • Formats: CD, LP
The BBC Sessions 1989–2001
  • Released: 10 September 2008 (UK)[39]
  • Label: Island
  • Formats: CD
Impossible Oddities from Underground to Overground: The Story of Wau! Mr. Modo
(with Youth)
  • Released: 25 October 2010 (UK)[40]
  • Label: Year Zero
  • Formats: CD, LP
History of the Future
  • Released: 7 October 2013 (UK)[41]
  • Label: Island
  • Formats: CD/DVD
190
History of the Future Part 2
  • Released: 16 February 2016 (UK)
  • Label: Malicious Damage
  • Formats: CD/DVD
Orboretum: The Orb Collection
  • Released: 8 November 2024
  • Label: Cooking Vinyl
  • Formats: CD
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Close

Remix albums

More information Title, Album details ...
List of remix albums
Title Album details
Aubrey Mixes: The Ultraworld Excursions
  • Released: 27 December 1991 (UK)[42]
  • Released and deleted on the same day
  • Label: Big Life
  • Formats: LP, CD, cassette
Auntie Aubrey's Excursions Beyond the Call of Duty
  • Released: 13 August 1996 (UK)[43]
  • Label: Deviant
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
Auntie Aubrey's Excursions Beyond the Call of Duty Part 2
  • Released: 4 September 2001 (UK)[44]
  • Label: Deviant
  • Formats: CD
Orbserving the Star House in Dub
(featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry)
  • Released: 13 May 2013 (UK)[45]
  • Label: Cooking Vinyl
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Auntie Aubrey's Excursions Beyond The Call of Duty pt.3: The Orb Remix Project
  • Released: 4 December 2020 (UK)[46]
  • Label: Liquid Sound Design
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Close

Mix albums

More information Title, Album details ...
List of mix albums
Title Album details
Back to Mine
  • Released: 27 January 2003 (UK)[47]
  • Label: DMC
  • Formats: CD, LP
I'll Be Black
  • Released: 15 October 2007 (UK)[48]
  • Label: Trojan
  • Formats: CD
Tundra and Sunflakes Vol. 1
  • Released: 20 May 2011 (UK)[49]
  • Label: Ketama
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Tundra and Sunflakes Vol. 2
  • Released: 9 September 2011 (UK)[50]
  • Label: Ketama
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Close

Video albums

More information Title, Album details ...
List of video albums
Title Album details
The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld: Patterns and Textures
  • Released: 1992 (UK)[51]
  • Label: Big Life
  • Formats: VHS
C Batter C
  • Released: 11 November 2011 (UK)[52]
  • Label: Malicious Damage
  • Formats: DVD
Close

Extended plays

More information Title, EP details ...
List of extended plays, with selected chart positions
Title EP details Peak chart positions
UK
[6]
Kiss EP
In Dub
  • Released: 1991 (UK)[53]
  • Label: Big Life
  • Formats: 12"
Peel Sessions
The Peel Sessions
  • Released: 28 March 1996 (UK)[55]
  • Label: Strange Fruit
  • Formats: CD, LP
Daleth of Elphame
Kompassion
  • Released: 6 January 2003 (UK)[57]
  • Label: Kompakt
  • Formats: 12"
Komplott
  • Released: 15 November 2004 (UK)[58]
  • Label: Kompakt
  • Formats: 12"
Battersea Shield
(with Meat Beat Manifesto)
  • Released: 22 November 2004 (UK)[59]
  • Label: Malicious Damage
  • Formats: CD
Komfort
  • Released: 7 June 2005 (UK)[60]
  • Label: Kompakt
  • Formats: 12"
Alpine
  • Released: 4 March 2016 (UK)[61]
  • Label: Kompakt
  • Formats: 12"
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Close

Singles

More information Title, Year ...
List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[3]
IRL
[9]
UK
Dance

[62]
UK
Ind.

[62]
UK
Phys.

[62]
US
Dance

[8]
"A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld" 1989 78 The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
"Little Fluffy Clouds" 1990 101713
"Perpetual Dawn" 1991 181613
"Blue Room" 1992 82846 U.F.Orb
"Assassin" 12 Non-album single
"Oxbow Lakes" 1995 381038 Orbus Terrarum
"Toxygene" 1997 42394 Orblivion
"Asylum" 202020
"Once More" 2001 3850938 Cydonia
"Aftermath" (featuring MC Soom-T) 2004 103833 Bicycles & Tricycles
"Vuja De"[63] 2007 The Dream
"DDD (Dirty Disco Dub)"[64] 2009
"Golden Clouds"[65]
(featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry)
2012 9 The Orbserver in the Star House
"Soulman"[66]
(featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry)
44
"Ball of Fire"[67]
(featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry)
2013 34
"Doughnuts Forever" (featuring Jah Wobble) 2018 No Sounds Are Out of Bounds
"Rush Hill Road" (featuring Hollie Cook)
"Wolfbane"
"Pervitin (Empire Culling & The Hemlock Stone Version)" 2019 Abolition of the Royal Familia
"Hawk Kings (Oseberg Buddhas Buttonhole)"
"Daze (Missing & Messed Up Mix)" 2020
"Toi 1338b" (with Sedibus) 2021 The Heavens
"Afterlife Aftershave" (with Sedibus)
"Whippersnapper" (with OSS) Enter the Kettle
"Disco Bombing" (with OSS)
"Wow Picasso!" (with OSS)
"No Speed Limit" (with OSS)
"Living in Recycled Times" (solo or featuring Rachel D'Arcy) 2023 Prism
"Prism"
"Cracking Kraken" (with Chocolate Hills) Yarns From the Chocolate Triangle
"H.O.M.E (High Orbs Mini Earth)" Prism
"Masterblaster" (edit) 2025 Speicher 14
"Arabebonics" Buddhist Hipsters
"Under the Bed"
"It's Coming Soon"
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Close

Remix work

More information Title, Year ...
List of remixes produced by the Orb for other artists, showing year released and album name
Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"Money $" (Orb Clubmix)[68] 1989 Fischerman's Friend "Money $" single
"Lily Was Here" (Space Centre Medical Unit Hum)[69] David A. Stewart, Candy Dulfer "Lily Was Here" single
"Hotel California" (Orb in Cali Mix 1)[70] 1990 Jam on the Mutha "Hotel California" single
"Hotel California" (Orbitally Ambient Mix)[70]
"Sirtaki on Mars" (The Orb vs. High Frequency Bandwidth Remix)[71] 2011 OMFO "Sirtaki on Mars" single
Close
1991
1992
1993
1994
  • Saxophonettes - "Secret Squirrel"
1995
  • Innersphere - "Out of Body"
  • Pop Will Eat Itself - "Home"
  • Spectre - "Spectre Overseas"
  • Yello - "You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess"
1996
1997
1998
  • Anaesthesia - "Dirty Kiss"
  • Mindless Drug Hoover - "The Reefer Song"
1999
  • D-Kiku - "Primitive..."
  • One True Parker - "Singing Ringing Tune"
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
  • Headcount - "Die Monkey Die"
2008
2009
  • Transmission - "Dance Alone"
2010
2011
  • Shrubbn! - Echos
2018
  • Space - Magic Fly

Music videos

More information title, Year ...
List of music videos, showing year released and director
title Year Director(s)
"Little Fluffy Clouds" 1992 Simon Maxwell, Marion Waldorf[72][73]
"Earth (Gaia)"
"Towers of Dub"
"Perpetual Dawn"
"Star 6 & 7 8 9"
"Outlands"
"Outro"
"Blue Room"
"Assassin"
"Pomme Fritz (Meat 'N Veg)" 1994 Tony Hill[74]
"Oxbow Lakes" 1995 Ian Bryers, Mike Lipscombe[73]
"Toxygene" 1997 Benjamin Stokes[75][76]
"Asylum"
"Once More" 2001 Vito Rocco[77]
"From a Distance (Blast Master v. The Corpral)"
(featuring The Corpral)
2004 Ukawa Naohiro[78]
"Vuja De" (version 1) 2007 Katsura Moshino[79]
"Vuja De" (version 2)
"Hymns to the Sun" (version 1)
(featuring David Gilmour)
2010 Gavin Elder[80]
"Hymns to the Sun" (version 2)
(featuring David Gilmour)
Stylorouge[80]
"Hold Me Upsetter"
(featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry)
2012 N/a[81]
"Golden Clouds"
(featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry)
Volker Schaner[82][83]
"Soulman"
(featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry)
Close

References

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