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".

[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?').

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."

[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'.