Downside Up is a four-disc box set collecting B-sides and bonus material from the catalogue of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Also included (on disc four) is The ThornEP, originally released in 1984. Most of these songs (only present on these CDs) were classics of the band's live repertoire like "Pulled to Bits", "Eve White/Eve Black", "Red Over White", "I Promise", "Something Blue", "El Día de los Muertos" and "B Side Ourselves". The box set was also released on iTunes.
Reception
The Times wrote in its review of Downside Up: "Standouts include the spiky 'Drop Dead/Celebration', the sinister 'Eve White/Eve Black' and the chopped up industrialfunk of 'Tattoo'". The reviewer rated the band as one of "the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".[5]Stylus rated it A saying: "It’s a wonderfully eclectic mixture of fingers-down-a-blackboard avant-punk ('Voices (on the Air)', 'Eve White/Eve Black'), Creatures-esque tribal drum-worship ('Sunless'), majestic beauty ('Something Blue', 'Shooting Sun', 'Return'), amusing experimentation ('Slap Dash Snap', '(There's a) Planet in My Kitchen'), linguistic fun ('Mittageisen', 'Il est né, le divin Enfant', 'El Día de los Muertos') and, yes, playfully 'dark' tunes ('Something Wicked (This Way Comes)', 'Are You Still Dying, Darling?')."[4]Record Collector praised the box set for its "remarkable diversity, spontaneity and playfulness", saying that there are "No throwaway tracks". Murray Chalmers commented: "'Drop Dead/Celebration' is still a wonderful explosion of bile aimed at their absconded guitarist and drummer, while 'Slap Dash Snap' is prototype techno." He underlined the diversity of the material: "on more reflective tracks like 'Sea of Light' and 'Let Go' you feel that here is a group who could go anywhere". He stated that "By CD2 they are firing on all cylinders, a pop group thrillingly ahead of the pack, CD3 is immaculate", and considered the four tracks from The Thorn that end the box set as an "orchestrated EP of ferocious intensity".[2]Rock Sound said: "Whilst most bands regard the B-side as an irrelevancy, a dumping ground for throwaway tracks not deemed good enough for proper release, Siouxsie and the Banshees always treated it with respect, an excuse to have fun and experiment." Neil Gardner praised "the sensual menace of 'Tattoo'".[3]Uncut recognized Downside Up as "an exhaustive and fascinating collection from an astonishing group".[6]
NME retrospectively wrote in 2009: "Manna from heaven for all Siouxsie and the Banshees obsessives, Downside Up is a four-CD box set of the band's B-sides and bonus material, including the spellbinding 'Tattoo' and 'Eve White/Eve Black'."[7]
Legacy
Trickycovered "Tattoo" as the opening number of his second solo album Nearly God (1996).[8] The original version of "Tattoo", sounds like a pre-trip hop manifesto with a part of the genre's codes; a sweaty atmosphere, whispered voices, humming basses and sounds of fluffy drums.[9][10] In 1997, Massive Attacksampled "Mittageisen" on "Superpredators" for the soundtrack of The Jackal.[11] Acts from other genres also selected some of these B-sides. Morrissey had "Eve White/Eve Black" played during intermission on his 1997's Maladjusted Tour.[12]Shirley Manson of Garbage stated that "Drop Dead/Celebration" was one of her favorite tracks.[13][14]Jenny Lee Lindberg of Warpaint mentioned her liking for "Umbrella", a song recorded in 1985.[15]
Track listing
All songs by Siouxsie and the Banshees except*
Disc one (1978–1982)
"Voices (on the Air)" (Originally the b-side of "Hong Kong Garden")
Three songs were slightly re-edited for the purpose of the box set. "False Face" has a longer introduction with the first singing line repeated. The first seconds of "Hang Me High" were edited out and "Black Sun" has a remodeled end.
^Dunn, Jancee. "Work in Progress". Rolling Stone. October 1996. She rebelled against school, and she says, "I more or less had to leave." Manson had an anger that she still can't explain. "I played the 45 of Siouxsie and the Banshees' 'Drop Dead Celebration' constantly," she says of the B-side of "Happy House."
