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Unknown source 2005 | ||
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The ultimate collection of rarities from the band who epitomised the post-punk movement of the late '70s and the goth scene of the '80s. It includes 55 tracks, 34 on CD for the first time, and a 76-page booklet. Tracks 1-6 on Disc Two are from the Hyaena sessions with Robert Smith, and some of the other featured cuts are arguably superior to the better-known album versions. | ||
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Uncut 01/05 | ||
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All the Banshees' B-sides - 53 of them - collected on four CDs. Having finally split two years ago after a difficult comeback tour, The Banshees left a formidable body of work. Through their B-sides, Downside Up charts an alternative history of one of Britain's most cherished groups. From the start they proved to be a far more dynamic proposition than their post-punk and goth peers and, especially during their early-'80s heyday, always relished the chance to try something new for a B-side. Their first 'Voices', the haunting flip to 1978's debut single, 'Hong Kong Garden', sets an impressive standard, swiftly followed by a thrash through '20th Century Boy'. The golden period, when drummer Budgie and ex-Magazine guitarist John McGeoch joined founders Siouxsie and ever-supple bassist Steve Severin, produced the tribal 'Congo Conga' and the spectral 'Cannibal Roses'. Moonlighting from The Cure, and a good friend of Severin's, Robert Smith's brief stint as a Banshee resulted in enjoyably psychedelic studio doodles like 'There's A Planet In My Kitchen'. Elsewhere, there are covers of 'All Tomorrow's Parties' and Ben E. King's 'Supernatural Thing', cut-up pop like 'Catwalk', and, for the first time on CD, 1984's 'The Thorn EP', for which the Banshees re-recorded B-sides 'Voices' and 'Red Over White' with a string quartet. An exhaustive and fascinating collection from an astonishing group. Piers Martin 01/ 05 |
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The Times 2005 | ||
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Siouxsie Sioux first came to our attention in 1976 as a Sex Pistols acolyte who was standing behind the band during the notorious interview with Bill Grundy on the Today programme. Yet with hindsight, her work doesn't seem to belong to punk at all. Her debut album didn't appear until 1978, by which time untutored three chord thrashing was beginning to appear passé. Instead, with the Banshees she helped invent a form of post-punk discord full of daring rhythmic and sonic experimentation that was as influential as it is underrated. Downside Up features 55 tracks spread across four discs, some of which have not previously appeared on CD. The result is a collection that constitutes an alternative history far more revealing than a greatest hits package, for here is a group that never filled b-sides with inferior throwaway tracks. Rather they saw them as an outlet for some their most radical and challenging work. Standouts include the spiky Drop Dead/Celebration, the sinister Eve White/Eve Black and the chopped up industrial funk of Tattoo, tracks that prove that the Banshees stand proudly alongside PIL, Gang Of Four and The Fall as the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era. 4/5 Nigel Williamson |
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Mojo 12/04 | ||
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Though now possibly the least trendy UK punk band, in their own way the Banshees pushed out the three-chord envelope every bit as boldly as The Clash. Kaleidoscope, their biggest-selling album, cuts an eyebrow-raisingly experimental dash by today's standards. Here we see how that frontier-challenging bent was given freer rein still within the pressure-free environment of the flipside - and, ins some cases (Coal Mind, Shooting Sun), yielded truly A-worthy results. The high-quality rubric was set with early nuggets like Drop Dead/Celebration, a frosty au revoir to errant Banshees, John McKay and Kenny Morris. Bizarre mutations arose: industrial/dub/da-da (Slap Dash Snap), pre-techno ambient-funk (Quarterdrawing Of The Dog). Some great covers, too: a goth/funk-merging take on Ben E. King's Supernatural Thing, The Modern Lovers' She Cracked, initially unrecognisable, utterly terrifying. The strings assisted Thorn EP occupies CD4. Overall, it's hardly a consistent listen, but full of blinding moments. 3/4 Andrew Perry |
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Classic Rock 12/04 | ||
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Possibly by virtue of the fact that they were the very last of the first-generation punk bands to take the corporate shilling - after finally signing with Polydor in the summer of '78 - the Banshees have always retained a level of credibility superior to that of their peers. In addition, Siouxsie Sioux's cannily contrived and iconic image of aloof, yet seductive, gothic detachment has successfully expanded the Banshees brand beyond mere musicianship. At their very best Siouxsie & The Banshees were exceptional, yet the deliciously macabre anti-Blondie were also notoriously patchy. But you'd stick with them through the worst bits of 'Join Hands' and 'Kaleidoscope' because they were the Banshees: no one else was like them, and Siouxsie had charisma to spare. Approach 'Downside Up' with no little caution however, for it's a four-disc boxed collection of Banshees' b-sides: a place where patchy becomes patchier still. And while it does have its moments - the lush glissading rushes of 'Coal Mind'; the stark contrary minimalism of 'Voices'; the chilling schizoid fury of 'Eve White/Eve Black; and the string-enhanced experimentations of 'The Thorn EP' - 'Downside Up' is essentially aimed at hardcore Banshees anoraks (or should that be shrouds?). 3/5 Ian Fortman |
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