Downside Up is a four-disc box set collecting B-sides and bonus material from the catalog of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Also included (on disc four) is The Thorn (EP), originally released in 1984.
Certain songs of this boxset were later hailed by other acts. Tricky covered "Tattoo" as the opening number of his second solo album Nearly God. The original version of "Tattoo", looks like a pre-trip hop manifesto with a part of the genre's codes : a sweaty atmosphere, whispered voices, huming basses and sounds of fluffy drums. Massive Attack sampled in 1997 "Mittageisen" (the "Metal Postcard" version sung in German) on "Superpredators" for the movie soundtrack The Jackal. Acts from other genres also selected some of these Banshees's B-sides. Morrissey made "Eve White/Eve Black" play during intermission on his 1997's Maladjusted tour. Shirley Manson of Garbage stated that "Drop Dead / Celebration" was one of her favourite tracks.
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 critic also rated the band as one of "the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era."
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" and "B-side Ourselves".