Hidden track

In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes secret track, ghost track or bonus track) is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener. In some cases, the piece of music may simply have been left off the track listing, while in other cases more elaborate methods are used. In some rare cases a "hidden track" is actually the result of an error that occurred during the mastering stage of the record's production.

"Train in Vain" on The Clash's London Calling is technically a hidden track because it does not appear on the track listing, although it was not intended to be such (see also Reasoning).^[1][2][3]

Alternately, a vinyl record may be double-grooved, with the second groove containing the hidden tracks. Notable examples of double-grooving are Monty Python's infamous "three-sided" Matching Tie and Handkerchief, Tool's Opiate EP^[4] and Mr. Bungle's Disco Volante.

On indexed media such as compact discs, double-grooving cannot be used, but there are additional methods of hiding tracks, such as:

• Similar to the above example, have the song as a separate unlisted track with its own index point. An example is Atlantic Bridge by Davy Spillane, which features a 13-second song unlisted at track 11, and Green by R.E.M., which also features an unlisted song at track 11. It is common for people to unlist track 13 on the album, due to Triskaidekaphobia. Albums like Busted do not list track 13.
• Placing the song after another track (usually, but not necessarily, the last track on the album), following a long period of silence. For example, Nirvana's song "Endless, Nameless" was included as a hidden track in this way on their 1991 CD Nevermind, after 10 minutes of complete silence.^[5][6] Although it was not the first hidden track to use this technique, this hidden song gained significant attention.^[2] This is the most common method used of placing a hidden track on a CD. However, sometimes a hidden track will feature as part of another track in the middle of an album, as is the case with the song "Affliction" from AFI's album DECEMBERUNDERGROUND. Another example is "Better Man" by British rock band Oasis. The song lasts for roughly 5 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of complete silence, then a hidden instrumental called "The Cage." Also used by singer Leona Lewis on her sophomore album, Echo.
• Placing the song in the pregap of the first track, so that the CD must first be cued to the track, and then manually back-scanned; these are often referred to as Track 0^[7] or Hidden Track One Audio (HTOA)[2]. The 'downside' of this method is that the CD player will not play these tracks without manual intervention (although this serves the purpose of a hidden track well) and some models (including computers) are unable to read this content. See List of albums with tracks hidden in the pregap.
• Using many short tracks of silence before the hidden track^[7]. On Danzig's album, Danzig 4, after the twelfth song, there are numerous blank tracks, until reaching the 66th track, the monotone chant, "Invocation,"^[8] or on Bowling for Soup's Drunk Enough to Dance, Track 28, "Belgium."^[9] This technique is also used in Nine Inch Nails' EP of 1992, Broken with 98th and 99th tracks playing two covers and Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar with track 99 playing a hidden song. HIM's debut album Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666 takes Danzig's technique one step further; not only is track 66 a hidden track, the total time of the entire album is 66 minutes and 6 seconds (66:06). Tool's album Undertow has a hidden song on track 69. Overkill's album W.F.O. has a hidden song on track 98, which is actually a medley between Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell" and Judas Priest's "The Ripper" played by Overkill in a rehearsal. Coheed and Cambria's album In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 uses this method. After eleven blank tracks ("A Lot of Nothing" 1-11), the hidden song "21:13" plays on track 23.
• Making the track playable only through a computer. An example would be Marilyn Manson's Mechanical Animals in which the hidden song is only accessible via a splash screen when the CD is inserted.
• Hide the song in a mixed and/or distorted way which must be undone to play it. Examples include the 'noise' at the end of the track "Get Out" on Trailer, the debut album by Ash. When the noise is reversed, slowed down and the pitch altered, is a low quality demo version of the song "Intense Thing". Another example is "The Shock of the Lightning" by Oasis, which features a clip of their song "Champagne Supernova" at the very end of the track which is audible if the track is played in reverse.

Often it is unclear whether a piece of music should be considered a hidden track. For example, "Her Majesty," which is preceded by fourteen seconds of silence, was originally unlisted on The Beatles' Abbey Road but is listed on current versions of the album.^[10] This is allegedly the first instance of a hidden track (except that The Beatles has a hidden track after "Cry Baby Cry," referred to only as "Can You Take Me Back" (see "Cry Baby Cry" for more). The song snippet at the end of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is considered by some to be a hidden track, by others to be noise not worthy of such a designation, and by others to be part of "A Day in the Life."^[11]

Contents 1 Reasoning 2 Notability 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Reasoning

Most bands that decide to include a hidden track presumably do so simply to surprise fans that find it, or for humorous effect in the case of joke tracks. Sometimes, the tracks are hidden for specific reasons:

• In some rare cases, it is used to put forbidden (by law) songs on live discs. An example is Ramones' Loco Live American version, which has the song "Carbona Not Glue" hidden after "Pet Sematary" on track 17. It was originally recorded on their album Leave Home, but the makers of the spot remover Carbona, a registered trademark, objected. Therefore reference to the song was removed from the album and cover.^[12]
• "Train in Vain" by The Clash, which appears at the end of London Calling, was left out of the vinyl's track listing simply because it was a last-minute addition to the album, when the sleeves were already printed. It is thus not a real hidden track. It was originally intended as a promotional giveaway for NME. The later CD versions list the track on the sleeve.^[3]. The album "Driving Rain" by Paul McCartney contains the song "Freedom" hidden because of a similar reason.
• "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Bite Me" from the album Off the Deep End, was put on after ten minutes of silence to scare listeners who had forgotten to turn off the CD player.^[13]
• The X-Files: The Album, features a hidden track at 10 minutes and 13 seconds into the final track. The track consists of series creator Chris Carter explaining the series mythology and meaning behind the alien conspiracy. The hidden track even includes spoilers and minute details in the show's overall plot that had not yet been resolved on the show itself when the album was released. This track was included as both a surprise to devoted fans who would seek out answers in cross promotional merchandise and as a mystery to new fans who would need to watch the show more closely to better understand the track.^[14]
• Eugene Mirman's album The Absurd Night Club Comedy of Eugene Mirman includes a hidden track making fun of hidden tracks and telling the listener that he or she has a (Very bizarre) mission.^[15]
• The Jam's All Mod Cons unlists the song "English Rose" and its lyrics on original vinyl copies because Paul Weller believed the title and song meaning to be personal. They have been added to re-releases of the album.
• Skip Spence's "Land of the Sun" was included as a hidden track by producer Bill Bentley to specifically close a tribute album to Spence, More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album.^[16] It was Spence's last known recording.^[17]

Notability

Sometimes hidden tracks have become quite popular and received heavy radio airplay, and occasionally climbed the charts.

• The Beatles' track "Her Majesty" off their 1969 album Abbey Road is considered the first hidden track in recording history. The original pressings of Abbey Road did not list "Her Majesty" on the back cover song title listing, nor the record label; subsequent LP pressings and then CD issues were issued revealing the track. However, two years prior, in 1967, on the UK version of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, there was the now-famous "inner groove" that appeared after "A Day in the Life" at the end of side 2. While not ever being specified as a track or piece with any title, it is an unexpected, untitled, and uncredited Beatles recording - so this might be deemed a pre-cursor to the hidden track.
• Janet Jackson's track Whoops Now, a hidden track of her album janet., was released as a single and reached #9 in UK Singles Charts and #1 in New Zealand Singles Chart.
• The Rembrandts had a sudden radio hit in 1995 with "I'll Be There For You," the theme song to Friends, so it was added at the last minute to their third album LP. As a result the song was a hidden track on the early printing since the CD packaging had already been completed by the time the song was added. A sticker was however added to the outer shrink wrap advertising the song's inclusion.
• The Eels album Daisies of the Galaxy contains a hidden track, "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues", which was released as a single and not featured on the sleeve notes though it was "radio-popular".^[18] The song was, in fact, released as the first single from the album and peaked at #11 on the UK Singles Chart.
• Counting Crows' hidden cover of "Big Yellow Taxi" on Hard Candy.^[19]
• Cracker's "Euro-Trash Girl", an original, was one of their biggest radio hits despite being a hidden track on Kerosene Hat.^[20]
• "Skin (Sarabeth)" by Rascal Flatts, a hidden track from their 2004 album Feels Like Today, received enough airplay to chart in the Top 40 on the country charts. By mid-2005, the album was re-issued with the song officially listed as a track, coinciding with the song's release as a single.^[21]
• Of the two hidden tracks on Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, one of them, the cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" was nominated for a Grammy in 1999 in the category of "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". It was the first time a hidden track was nominated for a Grammy.
• The LP of The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief album had two grooves on one side, making it a three-sided record. This more-or-less randomly hid one half or the other of the content of side 2 when played. (Both physical sides of the record were also identically labeled as "Side 2", further pseudo-randomizing the playing process.)
• KoЯn's 1998 album "Follow The Leader" contains 25 tracks, the first 12 of which are hidden tracks containing five seconds of silence each. This makes for a full minute of silence before the first track plays. Singer Jonathan Davis did not like the fact that the album would have ended on the thirteenth track (due to superstition), so they preferred to start that album on that track instead. The first track on the back of the album is listed as "13. It's On!", which implies that the CD begins at track 13. On the song "My Gift to You" contains a hidden track, "Earache My Eye".
• Muse's Starlight DVD single features a hidden track. Although the song has not officially been given a title, it is most commonly referred to as "You Fucking Motherfucker", even by band members themselves. It is a short track which contains a lot of swearing. The track can be found on the DVD by going to title 4. The cowbell 'click-track' was left in this song and is clearly audible throughout.^[22]
• On The Mamma Mia Soundtrack, The song "Thank You For The Music" is not listed on the cover but is played at the end after the final song.
• The McFly album Motion in the Ocean features the live hidden track "Silence Is a Scary Sound". The song was played live during the band's Wonderland Tour and became a B-Side for their "Star Girl" single. This is one of the only times a hidden track has been played live or become a B-Side. The band's debut album, Room on the 3rd Floor, contains a pregap hidden track called "Get Over You" which was also a B-Side (for the single "Obviously").
• Slipknot's Scissors, the 15th song on the debut album, contains 7 minutes of discreet dialogue between the band members before playing the hidden track Eeyore. This brings the total time of Scissors to 19 minutes 16 seconds. The first 8:25 is the song scissors, followed by 7 minutes of silence, then the song Eeyore.
• Track 13 on Disc 1 of the Star Wars: A New Hope SE soundtrack is Binary Sunset and after seconds of empty sound goes into several alternate Star Wars themes (main titles) complete with John Williams counting into each track.
• Hip-Hop Recording artist Jay-Z's Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter album released in 1999 includes two hidden tracks at the end of the album, "Jigga My Nigga" and "Girl's Best Friend". Both tracks are inserted following a minute of silence at the end of "Hova Song (Outro)". The two bonus tracks are unlisted and do not have track numbers. "Hova Song (Outro)" by itself is 1:26, the track as a whole is 11:01.Also in 2001 Jay-Z put two hidden bonus tracks at the end of the final track on his The Blueprint album, "Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)" is 3:41 by itself. Twenty-five seconds of silence follows after and the bonus track "Breathe Easy (Lyrical Exercise)" begins. That song fades and is immediately followed by "Girls, Girls, Girls (Part 2)."And in 2003 Jay-Z released The Blueprint 2.1 which contained the tracks "Stop" a new cut and "La-La-La (Excuse Me Miss Again)". The bonus tracks are unlisted and do not have track numbers.

See also

• Easter egg (media)
• B-side
• List of albums containing a hidden track
• List of albums with tracks hidden in the pregap
• Backmasking
• Bonus track
• Pregap
• Track (CD)
• Triskaidekaphobia

References

External links

• Hidden Songs A user submitted database of hidden song listings.