Downside Up


Downside Up is a four-disc box set collecting B-sides and bonus material from the catalogue of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Also included is The Thorn EP, originally released in 1984. Most of these songs 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 industrial funk of 'Tattoo'". The reviewer rated the band as one of "the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era". Stylus rated it A saying: "It’s a wonderfully eclectic mixture of fingers-down-a-blackboard avant-punk, Creatures-esque tribal drum-worship, majestic beauty, amusing experimentation, linguistic fun and, yes, playfully 'dark' tunes."
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". 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'". Uncut recognized Downside Up as "an exhaustive and fascinating collection from an astonishing group".
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'."

Legacy

Tricky covered "Tattoo" as the opening number of his second solo album Nearly God. 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. In 1997, Massive Attack sampled "Mittageisen" on "Superpredators" for the soundtrack of The Jackal. 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. Shirley Manson of Garbage stated that "Drop Dead/Celebration" was one of her favourite tracks. Jenny Lee Lindberg of Warpaint mentioned her liking for "Umbrella", a song recorded in 1985.

Track listing

All songs by Siouxsie and the Banshees except*
All lyrics by Siouxsie Sioux except^
;Disc one
  1. "Voices "^
  2. "20th Century Boy"*
  3. "Pulled to Bits"^
  4. "Mittageisen "
  5. "Drop Dead/Celebration"
  6. "Eve White/Eve Black"
  7. "Red Over White"
  8. "Follow the Sun"
  9. "Slap Dash Snap"^
  10. "Supernatural Thing"*
  11. "Congo Conga"
  12. "Coal Mind"
  13. "We Fall"
  14. "Cannibal Roses"
  15. "Obsession II"
  16. "A Sleeping Rain"
  17. "Il est né, le divin Enfant"*
;Disc two
  1. "Tattoo"
  2. " Planet in My Kitchen"
  3. "Let Go"
  4. "The Humming Wires"
  5. "I Promise"
  6. "Throw Them to the Lions"^
  7. "An Execution"
  8. "The Quarterdrawing of the Dog"
  9. "Lullaby"
  10. "Umbrella"
  11. "Shooting Sun"
  12. "Sleepwalking "^
  13. "She Cracked"*
  14. "She's Cuckoo"
  15. "Something Blue"
  16. "The Whole Price of Blood"
  17. "Mechanical Eyes"
;Disc three
  1. "False Face"
  2. "Catwalk"
  3. "Something Wicked "
  4. "Are You Still Dying, Darling?"
  5. "El Día de los Muertos"
  6. "Sunless"
  7. "Staring Back"^
  8. "Return"^
  9. "Spiral Twist"
  10. "Sea of Light"^
  11. "I Could Be Again"
  12. "Hothead"
  13. "B Side Ourselves"
  14. "Swimming Horses"
  15. "All Tomorrow's Parties"*
  16. "Hang Me High"^
  17. "Black Sun"
;Disc Four The Thorn EP
  1. "Overground"^
  2. "Voices "^
  3. "Placebo Effect"
  4. "Red Over White"
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.
Concerning the credits and personnel for the B-sides recorded in 1983-84, guitarist Robert Smith only recorded and co-composed the track "There's a Planet in my Kitchen".
Concerning the 1987 b-sides, "She's Cuckoo" and "Something Blue" were recorded as a trio - John Valentine Carruthers had already left the band by then.