On unindexed media such as Vinyl Records , hidden tracks are generally additional tracks left off of the liner notes. Alternately, a vinyl record may be double-grooved, with the second groove containing the hidden tracks. One notable example of double-grooving is Tool 's Opiate EP.
On indexed media such as Compact Discs , there are additional methods of hiding tracks, such as:
- using an ordinary indexed track omitted from the song listing. There can also be a few short tracks of a few seconds in length in between the last named song and the hidden song; hidden songs of this nature are usually indexed as track 99, the last possible CD index;
- placing the song after another track (usually the last track on the album), following a long period of Silence . For example, on Green Day 's 1994 album '' Dookie '', the last official track is followed by several minutes of silence, and then followed by a track known as ''All By Myself''. This is the most common method used of placing a hidden track on a CD and has been used on Joss Stone 's '' Mind, Body & Soul ''; Nirvana 's '' Nevermind ''; P!nk 's '' Try This ''; Beyonce 's '' Dangerously In Love ''; Oasis 's '' Heathen Chemistry '', Travis 's '' The Man Who '', Kottonmouth Kings ' '' Royal Highness '', The Verve 's '' Urban Hymns '', Coldplay 's '' X&Y ,'' etc.;
- placing the song in the '', there are two hidden tracks; to hear them you have to rewind the first track nine minutes. The "downside" of this method is that the CD player will not play these tracks without manual intervention and some models (including computers) are unable to read this content.
- placing the song in between two tracks, using negative time. For example, Limp Bizkit 's album '' Significant Other '' features several skits between tracks, including the band shattering glass before the song "Break Stuff". Computers usually do not list these tracks separately and will append them to the end of the previous track; in this case, to the end of the song "Nookie";
- using part of the data track portion of an Enhanced CD . If it is a compressed form such as MP3 or AacPlus , then more audio content can be potentially stored than if the track was a regular audio track. The downsides of this method are that regular CD players cannot play these tracks, the sound quality is lower because it is compressed in a lossy format ( MP3 ), unless the file itself is a Lossless compressed file ( WMA Lossless , FLAC ) which occupies more space, and the content is often locked to a particular Operating System ;
- using several tracks with no silence in-between to produce an uninterrupted song. An example is Frenzal Rhomb 's 1997 album ''Not So Tough Now'', although the majority (but not all) of the dozens of tracks making up the secret are listed on the liner notes with names which highlight their secret nature.This doesn't seem to help much.
As these tracks are left off the song list, they do not usually have formal song Title s. When mentioned in music reviews, these tracks are usually referred to as "Track 0", "Untitled Track" or "Hidden Track". At other times, the name is inferred by external communication from the artist; for example, the untitled track on Alanis Morissette 's 1995 album '' Jagged Little Pill '' is referred to as "Your House" when she performs live.
Most artists decide to include a hidden track simply to surprise their fans. Sometimes, the tracks are hidden for specific reasons:
- Many artists have used hidden tracks to include songs which may not fit the artist's generally accepted style or genre; for example, the track Horse on Live 's Throwing Copper , which is more explicitly country-influenced than their other work.
- The aforementioned '''' uses the hidden tracks to keep in line with the mysterious, conspiracy theory nature of the TV Series '' The X-Files ''.
On some occasions hidden tracks have been Cover Version s of a famous song by another artist. On several occasions, these hidden cover versions have become quite popular and received heavy radio airplay, such as Lauryn Hill 's hidden cover of "Can't Take My Eyes off of You" from '' The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill '' or Counting Crows ' hidden cover of "Big Yellow Taxi" on '' Hard Candy ''. The reverse has also occurred, for example when Grey Eye Glances included a version of the Yes song "Your Move" as a hidden track on their "Songs of Leaving" album, having played it in their live set for some time.
- hoax; although the British media has described it as the phrase "We'll fuck you like supermen".
- '' are The Who's voices repeating the words " Track Records , Track Records, Track Records..."
- The Beatles were also probably responsible for the first true "hidden track", which appeared on their last recorded studio album, the 1969 '' Abbey Road ''. The conclusion of their climactic finale "The End" is followed by several seconds of silence, then an extremely loud chord, followed by a brief acoustic song performed by Paul McCartney, called " Her Majesty ", which cuts off before the last note. The song was originally part of a medley of songs which appeared on the second side of the record, but it was edited out and, as producer George Martin had instructed engineer Geoff Emerick never to get rid of anything The Beatles ever recorded, Emerick saved the track by splicing it onto the end of the master tape (the chord is apparently part of " Mean Mr. Mustard ", another track on the LP). When The Beatles heard this, they considered it a happy accident and left it on the master. "Her Majesty" was not always listed on the original LP release; it is listed and is a separate track on the CD version.
- The Clash 's 1979 LP '' London Calling '' included the hidden track " Train In Vain ". The original vinyl version and the original CD back cover did not list the song (though the song was listed on the original CD itself), as the song was not recorded until after the original vinyl artwork had been sent to be printed. However, all reissues afterwards have listed the song. Ironically, the song turned out to be the band's first American hit single and entered the charts within the Top 40.
- New Order side project Revenge have a random answering machine message hidden at the end of their 1991 e.p. ''Gun World Porn''.
- On Nirvana 's 1991 LP '' Nevermind '', an unnamed hidden track often known as " Endless, Nameless " starts after "Something in the Way" ends and is padded out with several minutes of silence. Only certain issues of the CD contain the track, although it is always some vinyl reissues and the MFSL gold disc issues of the record. The current standard CD edition does not contain the track. The follow-up of ''Nevermind'', '' In Utero '', also includes a song called " Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip ", that starts 20 minutes after the twelfth song, " All Apologies ", has ended. The song was only included in Europe an pressings of the album.
- Pink Floyd , in their The Dark Side Of The Moon album, after the fourth song, Time, there is a hidden song called "Breathe (Reprise)"
- On "Weird Al" Yankovic 's 1992 album '' Off The Deep End '', itself a parody of Nirvana's ''Nevermind'', the last track is followed by ten minutes of silence, then a five second cacophony, designed to scare listeners who neglected to turn off the CD after the final song, parodying "Endless, Nameless".
- At the end of Children Of Bodom 's '' Hate Crew Deathroll '', there is a long period of very low volume recording. This can be revealed by Normalization .
- After about 5 minutes of silence on the last song (Scissors) of Slipknot 's self titled album, there is a short home audio recording of the members watching an explicit video involving bodily functions, followed by the track " Eeyore ."
- After the last track of '', there are 11 silent tracks followed by the hidden track, 2113.
- On Blind Melon 's sophomore release, '' Soup '', there exists a hidden track at the beginning of the album, introducing a different take on the hidden track which normally resides at the end. To access this track, simply press "play", and at any point in the first track ("Galaxie"), press "rewind" for a little over 2 minutes. The lyrics are Shannon Hoon's vocals recorded backwards from other songs on the album, and the music is unique to the album.
- Bogdan Raczynski 's ''Renegade Platinum Mega Dance Attack Party: Don The Plates'' contains seven hidden tracks at the end of the album.
- Rascal Flatts song, "Skin (Sarabeth)," is a hidden track on the Country Music band's album, ''Feels Like Today''.
- Green Day put a song called " All By Myself " on their album Dookie . The song can be heard by waiting for about 3 minutes after " F.O.D. " ends. The song was written by Tré Cool , and is about masturbation.
- At the end of Alanis Morissette 's album " Jagged Little Pill ," there exists an alternate take of "You Oughta Know" as well as an acapella song, entitled "Your House."
- On Placebo 's self-titled debut album from 1996, the last track, Swallow, lasts for about 5 minutes, then after about 10 minutes, a hidden track, all instrumental, Hong Kong Farewell, begins. It is rather quiet and unique compared to the rest of the album, Swallow (the first part), is also unique.
- When the Grateful Dead released remastered versions of their material from their days with the Warner Brothers ' label, they included hidden tracks on many of the albums. The hidden tracks usually include live versions of songs from the year of the album, radio ads, and a rare studio recording of "Dark Star" on Live/Dead .
- the hidden song is placed a few seconds after No One's There and is a Remix of Here To Stay . Finally, on Take A Look In The Mirror the hidden track is the live cover of Metallica 's song One performed during the mtvICON:Metallica. Altthough not a typical hidden track; you can get a preview of the song "Last Legal Drug (Le Petit Mort)" from the See You On The Other Side Deluxe Edition release by listening to "10 or a 2-Way" from 2:23 to 2:48. There is also a short instumental remix of Hypocrites circulating on the internet and is suspected to be a possible hidden track.
- Our Lady Peace 's 4th studio album, Spiritual Machines contains a hidden track over 10 minutes after the end of the final song "The Wonderful Future." This hidden track consists of Ray Kurzweil having a conversation with "Molly," a "spiritual machine" featured in his book The Age Of Spiritual Machines , from which the album is based.
- On The Stone Roses ' album Second Coming , there is an extra instrumental track consisting of six minutes of out-of-tune playing. Depending on the version of the CD, this is either the 13th track (the next after the final song on the album proper) preceded by about a minute of silent minus time, or a track that comes after many very short silent tracks.
- On Coldplay 's debut album, Parachutes , the last track, Everything's Not Lost, contains the hidden track "Life Is For Living". It can be heard by letting the track continue for 20 more seconds after the track ends. Life Is For Living was frequently played in the A Rush Of Blood To The Head Tour & can be heard in the encore in the Live 2003 DVD. In their later album, X&Y , there is a 13th track "'Til Kingdom Come". While it is technically a hidden track by not being listed in the liner notes (except by a subtle "+"), Chris Martin would frequently mention it on radio interviews prior to the album's release.
- On the Black Sabbath album Sabotage , there is a short hidden track named "Blow on a Jug" after the last track "The Writ". It appears on most releases of the album, including the original LP and the Black Box remaster.
- On the Album "boven" (up) from the Dutch Band Blof there is a hidden track that can only be listend to when rewinding the first song. A somewhat reaggea-like version of the Dutch Top 40 hit "Hier aan de kust".
- On Hamasaki Ayumi 's fifth studio album RAINBOW there is a hidden track that starts after a short break after track 15. It's called More Than.
- Each copy of the 1998 Clutch album The Elephant Riders , contains one of three hidden songs ("David Rose", "Gifted & Talented", or "05"), which is on the same track as "Dragonfly".
- Finntroll added a hidden track , "Försvinn Du som lyser", to the end of their 2001 album '' Jaktens Tid ''.
- Hardcore punk band AFI included a spoken word piece and the song "This Time Imperfect" after the end of the last track, "...But Home is Nowhere" on the U.S. version of their album Sing The Sorrow . On the U.K. version, it is after "Now the World"
- The New Amsterdams simply ommitted the 5th track on the album 'Never You Mind' from the album notes, effectively making it secret although it is in the middle of the album
- On Anthrax 's rerecorded tracks album The Greater Of Two Evils , a re-recording of the song "Lone Justice" begins a few seconds after "Gung-Ho" ends. In between the tracks, you can hear Gung-Ho being rewound.
- The concept of hidden tracks was parodied by the Man Or Astro-Man? album " Destroy All Astromen! ". The final track on the album runs for two minutes, then the music ends, but the track itself continues for an additional four minutes, after which the listener is confronted by a voice with a southern drawl who asks the listener "Boy, what's you waitin around for? There ain't no 'mystery track' on this darn CD!"
- After the final track on the Hootie And The Blowfish breakout album Cracked Rear View , a short hidden track of a Darius Rucker acapella solo is heard, known as "Motherless Child".
- On Love Parade 's 2006 E.P, there is an approx. 40 second freakout about thirty seconds after the final track.
- On Robyn Hitchcock 's 1999 album Jewels For Sophia , there are two hidden tracks, both tacked onto the last proper song on the album, after about a minute of silence: "You've Got To Find Your Way Around Me" and "Don't Talk to Me About Gene Hackman," the latter apparently recorded in a coffeehouse. They are preceded by a humorous answering machine message spoken by Hitchcock.
- In the soundtrack for the film Hannibal, the very last piece, a relaxing and spiritual aria is song, as it fades to its conclusion, Anthony Hopkins is heard to say "Tata, H". 5 seconds of silence ensue, when a very loud and abrupt musical flourish is heard which lasts for mere seconds, often startling the first time listener.
- At the end of the Royal Highness album by Kottonmouth Kings , a silence of about thirty seconds is heard, after which two songs left off the track listing begin, "Pimp Twist" and a remix of the song "Bump".
- On the Test-Icicles album For Screening Purposes Only, there is a long period of silence after the song "Party On Dudes (Get Hype)", and then the secret track "What's Michelle Like" is played. This is omitted on the tracklisting and in the CD booklet, but has appeared on the bands' website.
- On their album Guerrilla , the Super Furry Animals have hidden two tracks - although one is only arguably a song. At the end of the last track, "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy" after over six minutes of silence, a very short reprise of the track "Chewing Chewing Gum" can be found. The second hidden track is hidden some way into the pregap of the first track - a full length song known as "The Citizens Band".
- On the System Of A Down album Toxicity , approximately 8 seconds after "Aerials" ends, there is a hidden track. This is an Armenian Folk Song , and it is performed by Serj Tankian, and Arto Tuncboyacian.
- On few of Jay Chou 's Ye Hui Mei albums, contains 2 hidden tracks. Later a film called "Hidden Track" was made from it.
- The final track of the Gin Blossoms album Congratulations...I'm Sorry has a short hidden track, featuring vocals by lead singer Robin Wilson's dog.
- On Blur 's album Think Tank , there is a hidden track that can be reached by rewinding at the start of the first track. The hidden track, "Me, White Noise" features Phil Daniels , the narrator in Blur's hit " Parklife ".
- On the .
- On the Ben Folds Five album Whatever And Ever Amen , there is a hidden track after "Evaporated". At 5:28 on the track, someone says "Look, man, I got your hidden track right here, pal! Right here! Listen! Ben Folds is a fuckin' asshole!" On the March 2005 reissue, the hidden track has been relocated to before "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces".
- On the reissue of Nine Inch Nails ' Broken , there are many one-second or four-second tracks of silence after the final listed song, to separate the main program from two secret tracks. The original pressing of the EP had no secret tracks — the songs were presented on a separate disc.
- Mansun 's first long-play album ''Attack of the Grey Lantern'' has a secret song in the end, separated with several minutes of silence. It tells the listener not to take the preceding album too seriously, as "the lyrics aren't supposed to mean that much, they're just a vehicle for a lovely voice".
- After the final song on U2 's Zooropa fades out, a loud warning Klaxon emerges for several seconds to harshly alert the listener to the album's ending, only to be shut down mid-tone, dropping the pitch of the sound.
- Lit 's Place In The Sun when rewound before the 1st track will play a sound check
- On Rammstein 's Reise Reise album there is a hidden track in 38 seconds negative time before the cd starts. The only way to access this is rewind from the start. It was omitted from the Japanese version because of the nature of the noise, which is taken from the JAL Flight Disaster (in keeping with the theme of album).
- Damien Rice , on his debut album O , placed two hidden tracks in the final song, "Eskimo". The first hidden track is called "Prague" and is separated from the song "Eskimo" by over a minute of silence. The last hidden track, which is the last track on the entire album, is a rendition of the classic hymn "Silent Night". "Silent Night" was performed by Rice's frequent collaborator Lisa Hannigan .
- Danzig's 4th studio album, Danzig 4, features a hidden track as track #66, and is called "Invocation".
- Kylie Minogue 's Light Years contains a hidden track called "Password" before track one begins. To access the track, one must manually rewind the CD as soon as "Spinning Around" starts to play. "Password" was also included as a hidden track on the "Your Disco Needs You" CD singles but this time at the end of the final track.
- Sophie Ellis-Bextor 's Shoot From The Hip includes a hidden cover of Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" after several minutes of silence following the last song.
- Static-x 's Start A War has the song "Otsego Amigo" in A Capella aprox. 6 mins after the track, "Brainfog".
- On The Offspring 's Greatest Hits album, there is a hidden cover of the Police's "Next to You" 1 minute after the fading out of the last track, "(Can't Get My) Head Around You."
- On the Black Eyed Peas Album, Elephunk , there is a hidden track titled "Third Eye" which starts about 30 seconds after the final noted track ends. On newer versions "Let's Get It Started" and "Third Eye" are considered bonus tracks.
- On Dannii Minogue 's CD, Neon Nights , there is a hidden track titled "Come and Get It" which starts about 2 minutes after the final noted track ends. The hidden version is a remix of the single released by Dannii Minogue in Germany in 2004.
- 311 's album Transistor contains a hidden instrumental intro which can be heard by rewinding from the first track. This hidden track is known as the "Transistor Intro" to 311 fans.
- The Lost In Translation soundtrack album has a final, hidden track, Bill Murray doing his "More Than This" karaoke.
- On Story Of The Year 's album Page Avenue a recording of the band fooling around with voice filter-effects can be found after several minutes of silence at the end of the last track.
- On the Radiohead album Kid A , At 4:17 into "Motion Picture Soundtrack", a hidden track that ties in with "Motion Picture Soundtrack" plays at 5:07. This hidden track is known to some as Genchildren.
- On the Radiohead album OK Computer there is a track in which a computer voice babbles about being a model citizen. This is listed in small text on the side of the track listing. (Fitter Happier)
- On NOFX 's album So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes there is silence after the final track "Falling In Love", and then a recording from the Howard Stern show where they start to play an NOFX song and quickly dismiss it as 'disco' insultingly.
- In Bowling For Soup's album A Hangover You Don't Deserve , there are about 20 4-second songs, with nothing but silence. This is followed by a song of the band member's tallking, and a boy-band-like pop song normally reffered to as "Belgium".
- On Guns N' Roses ' album The Spaghetti Incident? , just at the end of the track "I Don't Care About You", there is a hidden track titled "Look At Your Game Girl" that was written by convicted murderer Charles Manson , which caused protests over the album soon after it was released.
- Everclear released the album So Much For The Afterglow with a hidden track after the last song (Like A California King).
- At the end of the last song on Papa Roach 's "Infest" album, after waiting through a minute of random noises a song called "Tightrope" starts.
- On Relient K 's album, MMHMM , there is a hidden track before the first song, entitled "MMHMM" .
- On Moe. 's album, 'Dither', the first track on the album, 'Captain America', is repeated after continuous silence after the last song on the CD entitled 'Opium'.
- On Hanson 's 1997 album, Middle Of Nowhere , there is a hidden track, "Man From Milwaukee (Garage Mix)", after 8 tracks of silence. It is listed on the back of the CD case, but some people have trouble figuring out where it is.
- On Hanson 's 2004 album, Underneath , if one waits about 3 minutes after the final track, "Believe", there is a few seconds of a mix of their song "Crazy Beautiful", & a strange mix of other sounds. About a minute & a half after that ends, the song "Lullabelle" can be heard.
- On Attila And The Huns self titled CD (2006), after the instrumental "Sharkin' the Fish Tank" there is about 2 or 3 minutes of silence, followed by arguably the most insane hidden track ever made. The guessed title is "Here Comes the Frog".
- On The Used Self-titled album, after the last track, "Pieces Mended", is several minutes of silence followed by a woman (Molly) reciting a poem and singing happy birthday, leading into a song entitled "Choke Me".
- On Disturbed's, The Sickness, there is an unlisted track known as "God Of The Mind" on some releases of the CD.
- Cold's 'Year of the Spider' contains a hidden track about 9 minutes after the end of "Kill The Music Industry". This track, called "Same Old Song" is more depressed and somewhat out of character with the rest of the album, likely being the reason that it was included as a hidden track.
- Some versions of SuidAkrA 's 2005 album, '' Command To Charge '', contains a bonus track at the end of "The End Beyond Me". This song is a cover of Mike Oldfield 's "Moonlight Shadow" and features a female vocalist.
- Hidden Songs A user submitted database of hidden song listings.
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