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Secret Tracks: Songs And Audio Pieces That Were Left Off The Track List


Secret tracks, sometimes also called ghost tracks, unlisted tracks or hidden tracks, are songs or audio pieces that were left off the track list of an album.

The easiest way to hide a secret track is providing the space for a distinct track that is just not listed on the back cover. However, there are also other possibilities:

Multisided records are vinyl records that have more than one groove per side. Therefore, double-grooved LPs can contain the secret track in the second groove.
Moreover, some vinyl records contain audio in the locked groove, which is usually silent and used for keeping the needle from drifting into the label area.

Compact discs may contain secret songs in the pregap of a track. Therefore (depending on the CD player), the secret track is not played automatically, but has to be manually back-scanned to be started.

In general, secret songs are often placed at the end of the final track, which contains the listed song and the unlisted audio separated by some minutes of silence.

Enhanced CDs may contain tracks that are not recognized by regular CD players but can only be detected as multimedia files by a computer.

In rare cases, two tracks have to be played simultaneously in order to either complement each other or to suppress distorted parts, resulting in a reconstructed song.

In general, there seems to be a trend that fewer secret tracks are produced for new releases. Moreover, re-issues of older albums often contain formerly secret tracks as listed bonus tracks or omit them entirely, especially for digital versions of the album.

Please feel free to suggest more examples of secret tracks on metal/hard rock albums.

[Updated 02.06.2024]

Created by: Plattner | 19.05.2024



1. Acid Bath - Paegan Terrorism Tactics
The final track (24:08 min) contains the listed song “Dead Girl”, which ends at 7:23. It is followed by silence from 7:24 to 22:29, before the unlisted secret song "The Beautiful Downgrade" starts.
2. Anthrax - Volume 8: The Threat Is Real
The listed song of the final track “Stealing From A Thief” ends at 5:33. After 2:30 min of silence, the secret song “Pieces” starts at 8:03. It features bassist Frank Bello on lead vocals.
3. Anthrax - We've Come For You All
The listed song of the bonus track "We're a Happy Family" is followed by the secret song after 2 min of silence.
4. Anthrax - Worship Music
The final track contains the listed “Revolution Screams", which ends at 6:08. After 5 min of silence, the secret song "New Noise" begins at 11:08. Some album versions have “New Noise” as bonus track.
5. Between The Buried And Me - The Silent Circus
The final track (13:37 min) contains the listed song “The Need for Repetition", which ends at 6:16, before the secret song "The Man Land" begins at 11:16.
6. Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding
The final song (“The Alchemist”) is followed by 2 min of silence before Dickinson reads lines from William Blake's epic poem "Milton".
7. Children Of Bodom - Something Wild
The 7th and final song (“Touch Like Angel Of Death”, 7:47 min) ends after 4:05. After several minutes of silence a short keyboard instrumental can be heard, which sometimes is referred to as “Coda”. The first versions had a hidden 8th track with 10 sec of silence, which sometimes is referred to as “Bruno The Pig”.
8. Children Of Bodom - Skeletons In The Closet
The King Crimson cover "Waiting" is a secret song at the end of the European album version.
9. Def Leppard - High 'N' Dry
The original vinyl album release used the locked groove for parts of the last song "No No No", where the final lyric “No” repeats infinitely. The original cassette features "No" being screamed 46 times, while the "No" lyrics fade out on later releases.
10. Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
The 11th and final track (“Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde”, a re-recorded version of the song from the album For All Tid) was not listed on the first versions of the album.
11. Gojira - Terra Incognita
The final song (“In The Forest”) ends at 5:30 and is followed by the secret instrumental “Terra Inc” or “Terra Incognita” (as it is called on live setlists) starting at 9:00. On the re-issue version, the instrumental starts already after 10 sec of silence. The album has no regular title track. Therefore, “Terra Incognita” could be described as a secret title track, which would also fit to the album theme.
12. Gojira - The Way Of All Flesh
The final song (“The Way of All Flesh”, 17:02 min) ends at 6:51 and is followed by a few minutes of silence before an untitled instrumental track starts at 12:33.
13. Guns N' Roses - "The Spaghetti Incident?"
The album ends with the infamous secret track “Look At Your Game, Girl”, written by the criminal cult leader Charles Manson.
14. Haggard - Eppur Si Muove
The final song (“Herr Mannelig – Short Version”, 06:10 min) ends at 3:20 and is followed by a few minutes of silence before an untitled instrumental track starts at 5:20.
15. Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism
Track 1 (later referred to as “Intro”) is not listed on the back cover. Therefore, the first listed song (“The Call Of The Wintermoon”) is track 2.
16. Korn - Korn
The 12th and final track (17:31 min) contains the listed song “Daddy”, which ends at 9:32. The secret audio “Michael & Geri” starts at 14:05, consisting of a discussion of a man and woman about a car. Some versions have this as separate secret track.
17. Korn - Life Is Peachy
The 14th and final track (8:37 min) contains the listed song "Kill You", which ends at 5:04, followed by silence until the secret song “Twist A Capella” starts at 7:34.
18. Korn - Follow The Leader
The first 12 tracks of the original physical version of the album each contain 5 sec of silence. The resulting 1 min of silence has been reported to represent a gesture of respect for a deceased fan. The 25th and final track (15:40 min) contains the 13th song from the album ("My Gift to You"), followed by 2 min of silence and finally the secret song "Earache My Eye" (Cheech & Chong cover).
19. Korn - Untouchables
The final track contains the listed song "No One's There" before - after some silence - the secret track “Here to Stay (T-Ray's Mix)" starts at 5:06. Some album versions have this as separate secret track without the silence.
20. Korn - Take A Look In The Mirror
The final track contains the listed song "When Will This End" (until 3:39) and a secret song (starting at 9:52), which is a live cover of Metallica`s “One”.
21. Kyuss - Kyuss
The secret track "Lick Doo" closes the album.
22. Kyuss - ...And The Circus Leaves Town
The 11th and last track (34:04 min) contains three songs. The listed song "Spaceship Landing" ends at 11:14, while the first secret song “M'deea“ starts at 14:42 and the second secret song "Day One" starts at 31:41.
23. Marillion - Brave
The second side of the second record of this double-LP features a double groove. The first groove contains the regular track listing (“The Great Escape” and “Made Again”), while the second contains an alternative version of “The Great Escape”. This alternative version has different lyrics that create a different ending to the album's narrative.
24. Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
The main album consists of the listed tracks 1-16. The unlisted tracks 17–98 contain a few seconds of silence each (track 17: 9 sec, tracks 18-97: 4 sec, track 98: 5 sec). Track 99 is a secret track, which is sometimes called "Revelation 99", "Track 99", "Empty Sounds of Hate", "Ghost Track" or"Untitled".
25. Marilyn Manson - Smells Like Children
Track 16 is a secret track, an alternative version of track 3 ("Shitty Chicken Gang Bang").
26. Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
The untitled 15th track can only be accessed through an enhanced CD executable computer.
27. Mastodon - Blood Mountain
The final song (“Pendulous Skin”) ends at 5:06 and is followed by the reading of a "fan letter" from Josh Homme (at 21:25), who provided guest vocals on the album. The track ends with laughter.
28. Mayhem - Grand Declaration Of War
The backmasked version of the final song “Completion In Science Of Agony (Part II of II)” can be found in the pregap before track 1.
29. Megadeth - Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years
The US version has the secret track "Capitol Punishment" (track 15). This new song is the secret title track of this compilation. The Japanese version has "Wake Up Dead" as bonus song on track 15.
30. Misfits - American Psycho
The final track contains the listed song "Don't Open 'Til Doomsday" and the secret song “Hell Night”.
31. Morbid Angel - Heretic
In addition to the 14 listed tracks, the album has 30 secret tracks: Tracks 15 to 29 are silent, while tracks 30 to 44 contain ambient pieces, isolated guitar leads or an instrumental version of another song from the album.
32. Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante
The LP version has a second groove during the 3rd song (“Sleep Part II: Carry Stress In The Jaw”). The corresponding secret song is called “The Secret Song” or “Spy”. It is part of the track on the CD version. Another secret song starts 1 min after the final song (“Merry Go Bye, Bye”) and is called “Nothing”.
33. Municipal Waste - The Art Of Partying
The secret song “Touch Me Now” (sung by drummer Brandon Ferrell) follows after the listed song “Born To Party”.
34. Nevermore - The Politics Of Ecstasy
A secret song follows after 5 min of silence behind the listed song "The Learning" ("Love Bites" on some album versions) .
35. Nine Inch Nails - Broken
The two songs “Physical” (Adam And The Ants cover) and “Suck” (Pigface cover) were originally released as mini-CD together with the six songs one the main CD in one limited package. Later releases had all songs on one CD, with the two mentioned songs as secret songs (at least mentioned in the credits) on tracks 98 and 99 respectively. The tracks 7-97 each contained 1 sec of silence.
36. Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
The two secret tracks “37 Ghosts” and “38 Ghosts” are not included on the CD and are not available as official download. Instead, the DVD included with the deluxe and ultra-deluxe editions of the album contains digital source multitrack files, which have to be mixed to reconstruct the songs.
37. Opeth - Deliverance
The final song (“By the Pain I See in Others”) ends at 10:40 and is followed by silence until 12:00, when two backmasked verses from the 5th song (“Master's Apprentices”) can be heard at 12:00 and 13:15.
38. Opeth - Ghost Reveries
On the LP version, the song “Reverie” (1:05 min) appears after 5:23 in the track “Atonement”. On the CD version, it is included in the pregap between the tracks “Atonement” and “Reverie/Harlequin Forest”. On the digital version, “Reverie” has been added to the end of “Atonement”. In any case, “Reverie” is not part of the track “Reverie/Harlequin Forest”.
39. Porcupine Tree - Deadwing
The secret song "Shesmovedon" appears at the end of the track "Glass Arm Shattering" after some silence. The UK album version has it as separate, but unlisted track.
40. Primordial - Spirit The Earth Aflame
The first versions of the album had a secret track at the end, which is a re-recorded version of the song “To Enter Pagan” (originally from the album: A Journey`s End). Later versions list it as regular bonus track.
41. Queens Of The Stone Age - Rated R
While most non-listed individual tracks appear at the end of an album, the secret track here is track 9 (a short reprise of "Feel Good Hit of the Summer"). Therefore, in contrast to the numbering of the CD back cover, the following "Tension Head" (listed as track 9) is actually track 10 for the CD player, while "Lightning Song" is track 11 and "I Think I Lost My Headache" is track 12.
42. Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf
The album has 3-4 secret songs. The pregap of track 1 contains "The Real Song for the Deaf", which can be accessed by rewinding track 1 until -1:35. Track 13 (6:42 min) contains the listed song “Song For the Deaf" and also the not listed song "Feel Good Haha of the Summer", which starts at 5:45 and contains an outtake of the song “Feel Good Hit of the Summer" with all lyrics replaced by laughter. The 14th track is the song "Mosquito Song", which is often labelled as “hidden song” on the album's track listing. Some album versions contain a 15th track (non-LP version of “Everbody`s Gonna Be Happy”) which is also listed as “hidden song”.
43. Queens Of The Stone Age - Lullabies To Paralyze
The final track contains the listed song "Long Slow Goodbye", 20 sec of silence and an orchestral instrumental.
44. Queensrÿche - Empire
The final track contains the song "Anybody Listening", which is followed by sounds of waves and muffled voices, which is believed to stem from a recording of Geoff Tate on a boat.
45. Sepultura - Roots
The secret instrumental track "Canyon Jam" closes the album.
46. Sylosis - Monolith
The final track (19:16 min) contains the listed song "Enshrined" and a secret track, which starts at 14:56 after 10 min of silence.
47. System Of A Down - Toxicity
The song “Aerials” is followed by the secret song “Arto”, which is featured as bonus track on several later editions of the album.
48. Tool - Opiate
The 12" version features an alternate groove with one track that will play either "The Gaping Lotus Experience" or "Cold and Ugly (Live)" depending on where the stylus is placed. On CD it appears on track 6 at 6 minutes and 6 seconds.
49. Tool - Undertow
The song “Disgustipated” is listed on the back cover as track 10. However, track 9 (“Flood”) is followed by the blank tracks 10-68, placing “Disgustipated” as actual track 69. The Japan version has the bonus track "Opiate (live in Calgary, 10/11/1992)" as track 69 and “Disgustipated” as track 70.
50. Tool - Salival
The secret song "Maynard`s Dick" appears at the end of the listed track “L.A.M.C.”
51. Tool - Lateralus
The song "Faaip de Oiad" is listed as track 13 on the album. However, the CD player recognizes the silent pregap of track 13, resulting in 2:20 min of silence between track 12 (“Triad”) and track 13 ("Faaip de Oiad").



Disclaimer: All top lists are unofficial and do not represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
[ More lists by Plattner ]



Comments

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Comments: 13   Visited by: 24 users
19.05.2024 - 00:07
Plattner
Please feel free to suggest more examples of secret tracks on metal/hard rock albums.
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19.05.2024 - 04:20
Blackcrowe
KYUSS - …AND THE CIRCUS LEAVES THE TOWN - SPACESHIP LANDING
MUNICIPAL WASTE - THE ART OF PARTYING - TOUCH ME NOW
NINE INCH NAILS – BROKEN EP- PHYSICAL
GUNS N’ ROSES – THE SPAGHETTI INCIDENT? - LOOK AT YOUR GAME GIRL
MISFITS – AMERICAN PSYCHO - HELL NIGHT


----
Maybe as his eyes are wide.
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19.05.2024 - 12:38
Plattner
Written by Blackcrowe on 19.05.2024 at 04:20

KYUSS - …AND THE CIRCUS LEAVES THE TOWN - SPACESHIP LANDING
MUNICIPAL WASTE - THE ART OF PARTYING - TOUCH ME NOW
NINE INCH NAILS – BROKEN EP- PHYSICAL
GUNS N’ ROSES – THE SPAGHETTI INCIDENT? - LOOK AT YOUR GAME GIRL
MISFITS – AMERICAN PSYCHO - HELL NIGHT





Thank you very much, Blackcrowe. I will have a look.
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19.05.2024 - 15:28
Zap
Guest
Another fun list. Apart from Mastodon's which you have already featured, these are the first ones I can think of.

Sylosis - Monolith: has a hidden track after 10 minutes of silence in "Enshrined".

Korn - Follow The Leader: has a hidden track in the final song and the first 12 tracks are silence. From Wikipedia:
Quote:
The original physical release features 25 tracks. The album starts with 1-12 tracks silent and each 5 seconds in length.[70] Combined, they represent 1 minute of silence for Justin.[citation needed] In interviews, Jonathan Davis also mentioned a superstition to end an album on track 13.
"My Gift to You" ends at 7:16. A hidden track entitled "Earache My Eye", a Cheech & Chong cover, starts at 10:50 after 2 minutes of silence and an interlude that lasts around a minute and 40 seconds. The track itself is around 4 minutes 50 seconds long.


EDIT: actually thought of another one:
Nevermore - The Politics of Ecstasy: has a hidden track after 5 minutes of silence in "The Learning"
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19.05.2024 - 16:22
Plattner
Written by Zap on 19.05.2024 at 15:28

Another fun list. Apart from Mastodon's which you have already featured, these are the first ones I can think of.

Sylosis - Monolith: has a hidden track after 10 minutes of silence in "Enshrined".

Korn - Follow The Leader: has a hidden track in the final song and the first 12 tracks are silence. From Wikipedia:
Quote:
The original physical release features 25 tracks. The album starts with 1-12 tracks silent and each 5 seconds in length.[70] Combined, they represent 1 minute of silence for Justin.[citation needed] In interviews, Jonathan Davis also mentioned a superstition to end an album on track 13.
"My Gift to You" ends at 7:16. A hidden track entitled "Earache My Eye", a Cheech & Chong cover, starts at 10:50 after 2 minutes of silence and an interlude that lasts around a minute and 40 seconds. The track itself is around 4 minutes 50 seconds long.


EDIT: actually thought of another one:
Nevermore - The Politics of Ecstasy: has a hidden track after 5 minutes of silence in "The Learning"


Thank you very much for your comment and your suggestions, Zap. I will have a look.
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19.05.2024 - 17:36
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Brilliant concept behind the list. I got to know just now.

Will check it out.
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19.05.2024 - 17:42
Plattner
Written by Cynic Metalhead on 19.05.2024 at 17:36

Brilliant concept behind the list. I got to know just now.

Will check it out.


Thank you very much for your kind comment, Cynic Metalhead.
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19.05.2024 - 18:27
Plattner
Written by Blackcrowe on 19.05.2024 at 04:20

KYUSS - …AND THE CIRCUS LEAVES THE TOWN - SPACESHIP LANDING
MUNICIPAL WASTE - THE ART OF PARTYING - TOUCH ME NOW
NINE INCH NAILS – BROKEN EP- PHYSICAL
GUNS N’ ROSES – THE SPAGHETTI INCIDENT? - LOOK AT YOUR GAME GIRL
MISFITS – AMERICAN PSYCHO - HELL NIGHT




Thank you again, Blackcrowe. I have added your suggestions (which included some important examples) to the list.
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19.05.2024 - 23:22
Plattner
Written by Zap on 19.05.2024 at 15:28

Another fun list. Apart from Mastodon's which you have already featured, these are the first ones I can think of.

Sylosis - Monolith: has a hidden track after 10 minutes of silence in "Enshrined".

Korn - Follow The Leader: has a hidden track in the final song and the first 12 tracks are silence. From Wikipedia:
Quote:
The original physical release features 25 tracks. The album starts with 1-12 tracks silent and each 5 seconds in length.[70] Combined, they represent 1 minute of silence for Justin.[citation needed] In interviews, Jonathan Davis also mentioned a superstition to end an album on track 13.
"My Gift to You" ends at 7:16. A hidden track entitled "Earache My Eye", a Cheech & Chong cover, starts at 10:50 after 2 minutes of silence and an interlude that lasts around a minute and 40 seconds. The track itself is around 4 minutes 50 seconds long.


EDIT: actually thought of another one:
Nevermore - The Politics of Ecstasy: has a hidden track after 5 minutes of silence in "The Learning"


Thank you again, Zap. I have added your interesting suggestions to the list.
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21.05.2024 - 15:04
Plattner
Written by Zap on 19.05.2024 at 15:28

Another fun list. Apart from Mastodon's which you have already featured, these are the first ones I can think of.

Sylosis - Monolith: has a hidden track after 10 minutes of silence in "Enshrined".

Korn - Follow The Leader: has a hidden track in the final song and the first 12 tracks are silence. From Wikipedia:
Quote:
The original physical release features 25 tracks. The album starts with 1-12 tracks silent and each 5 seconds in length.[70] Combined, they represent 1 minute of silence for Justin.[citation needed] In interviews, Jonathan Davis also mentioned a superstition to end an album on track 13.
"My Gift to You" ends at 7:16. A hidden track entitled "Earache My Eye", a Cheech & Chong cover, starts at 10:50 after 2 minutes of silence and an interlude that lasts around a minute and 40 seconds. The track itself is around 4 minutes 50 seconds long.


EDIT: actually thought of another one:
Nevermore - The Politics of Ecstasy: has a hidden track after 5 minutes of silence in "The Learning"



Thank you again, Zap. Based on your suggestion, I had a look at some other Korn albums and found more examples for secret tracks.
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21.05.2024 - 19:29
Zap
Guest
Written by Plattner on 21.05.2024 at 15:04


Thank you again, Zap. Based on your suggestion, I had a look at some other Korn albums and found more examples for secret tracks.

You're welcome! Yep, now that I see them listed here I do recall those albums also had some hidden tracks. Great find!
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21.05.2024 - 23:43
24emd
Theory Snob
Oh damn, the ending to Atonement is actually Reverie? And so the next track is just Harlequin Forest. Interesting, I always wondered how that was supposed to be split.
----
"I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense." - Proverbs 30:2
"Music? Well, it's just entertainment, folks!" - Devin Townsend

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22.05.2024 - 07:14
Plattner
Written by 24emd on 21.05.2024 at 23:43

Oh damn, the ending to Atonement is actually Reverie? And so the next track is just Harlequin Forest. Interesting, I always wondered how that was supposed to be split.


Thank you for your comment, 24emd. I had bought the standard CD version, where "Reverie" is in the pregap of track 5. In order to reach "Reverie" you could go directly to track 4 ("Atonement") and listen to the end, before the CD player switches to the pregap of track 5 with "Reverie". The CD player shows "track 5" on the display, but counts from - 1.07 sec to 0 sec while the song plays. After this, the regular track 5 (listed as "Reverie/Harlequin Forest") will start at 0 sec. Alternatively, you could go directly to track 5 and rewind back into the pregap. In either case, you cannot reach "Reverie" directly. It is a secret track or ghost track, which would also fit to the album title.
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