Hidden track

In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes secret track) is a piece of music which 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, whilst 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.

Reasoning

Most bands who decide to include a hidden track do so simply to surprise their fans. 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 Semetery" 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 taken off of the album and cover.
• "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 for a compilation album. The later CD versions list the track on the sleeve.
• "Weird Al" Yankovic's Bite Me was put on after ten minutes of silence to scare listeners who had forgotten to turn off the CD player.[1]
• The 13th track on a record is sometimes "hidden" (unlisted), part of a long Western tradition of avoiding mention of the number.
• Including a track that was made popular from appearing in another medium may increase sales in current product; case in point being Lauryn Hill's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," which charted in the US due to its placement in the film Conspiracy Theory.
• Nox Arcana has included a hidden track on all of their albums, some of which provide clues to solving puzzles included with the album packaging.

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 in recording history.
• Counting Crows' hidden cover of "Big Yellow Taxi" on Hard Candy.
• Cracker's "Eurotrash Girl," an original, was one of their biggest radio hits despite being a hidden track on Kerosene Hat.
• Collective Soul's song "She Said" was the hidden track on their fourth album Dosage, but was later released on their greatest hits collection, 7even Year Itch, as a self-contained track, rather than sharing a track with another song.
• "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.
• 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.
• Pearl Jam's song "4/20/02," about the fellow friend and grunge singer Layne Staley's overdose, is titled with his estimated date of the Alice in Chains singer's death and begins exactly 4:20:02 after the conclusion of the song "Bee Girl." The song was not featured as a listed track on Pearl Jam's album Lost Dogs because Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder did not wish for it to be exploitative.
• Nirvana's Nevermind, after 10 minutes and 6 seconds of the track Something in the Way, a different track, Endless, Nameless, begins to play. "Weird Al" Yankovic's song Bite Me was also a parody of this, for it is a hidden track off of his album Off the Deep End.
• On Coldplay's 2008 Album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, there are hidden tracks on 2 of the tracks. The track "Yes" is immediately followed by the hidden track "Chinese Sleep Chant". The final track, "Death And All His Friends" is followed by a closing hidden track titled "The Escapist". Also, the track "Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love" includes two separate songs, but "Reign Of Love" is most often not considered a hidden track, as it is part of the title and track listing. The band's 2005 album X & Y also contains a hidden track, "Till Kingdom Come.
• A hidden track, titled by fans "Island of the Kings", was found on the German release of the 1983 Savatage album, "Sirens", and is currently available for download on iTunes.
• Though not necessarily popular by airplay, The X-Files: The Album, includes a vocal track explaining the X-Files mythology up to the point of the film, starting at 10th minute 13th second, in homage to the name of the producing company of the series, Ten Thirteen Productions.
• The 2000 Radiohead album Kid A includes a hidden track in the final track, "Motion Picture Soundtrack". The hidden track starts at about 4:17 and ends at 5:09, with a remaining 1:50 being silent. Although it has no official title, the hidden track is commonly called "Genchildren".
• Dido's song See the Sun on the album Life for Rent has a hidden track playing 2 minutes after the track ending, the song is named Closer.
• Ash's 1977 features two tracks hidden before the first track. These can be heard by searching backwards from the start of the CD.
• On Creed's album Human Clay, there is sometimes a hidden track of the song "With Arms Wide Open". It is a strings version. The version is often played on the radio for time reasons.
• On Slipknot first album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. the final song "Dogfish Rising" is a hidden track.

See also

• Easter egg (media)
• B-side
• List of albums containing a hidden track
• Backmasking
• Bonus track
• Pregap

External links

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