Hidden tracks, the post-credits scene of the album world, have been around for a while and are sometimes used to hide tracks that didn’t quite fit on an album, rewards for the patient listener, or crap that the band found funny. We found some hidden tracks on classic and not-so-classic albums that people don’t really talk about enough.
Wu-Tang Clan “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)”
Wu-Tang listeners know that the boys from Shaolin like their king Fu movies. Their songs are littered with samples and references to the Wuxia genre but it is still jarring to hear the hidden track on their debut album where each member of the clan reads out their favorite Kung Fu movies with no backing beat or emotion in their voice.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono “Double Fantasy”
Released a month before Lennon’s murder the album features a hidden acoustic track in which Lennon dares someone to shoot him. The song is notable in that Lennon seems to imply that he wants Ringo Starr to be the one that pulls the trigger with the lines “Ringo you were shit on the drums/come and murder me ya bum.”
The Fall “Hex Enduction Hour”
The Fall’s fourth album contains one of the longest hidden tracks on this list as a listener will find if they wait two minutes after the end of the final track “And This Day” they’ll hear another complete album that The Fall recorded and forgot to release. Tenacious fans will also be rewarded if they wait for the hidden album to end as that also has a hidden track which is an album-length rant from Mark E. Smith about how much he hates Morrisey.
The Beach Boys “Pet Sounds”
Known for taking their music literally (while recording 1970’s “Sunflower” they ate nothing but sunflowers), the Beach Boys hid a track on their classic album with the vocals and instrumental work all performed by their own pets. While the vocals and guitar work is pretty rough, the drumming by Brian Wilson’s pet cat Leary is some of the best ever recorded.
Taylor Swift “Folklore”
During the Watergate affair, it was revealed that Richard Nixon was recording most of the conversations happening in the Oval Office. Strangely when the tapes were listened to, there was a missing 18 minutes that people believe were wiped to protect the president. How fortuitous then that those 18 minutes were found nestled in the end of Taylor Swift’s cottagecore masterpiece, “Folklore.” And while they don’t have the usual catchiness of a Taylor Swift bop, they do show the leader of the free world engaged in high treason in a way that shakes the very foundations of the country to its core.
Bloodhound Gang “Hooray for Boobies”
The soundtrack for horny pre-2000s teens, “Hooray for Boobies” featured the classic tracks The Bad Touch, I Hope You Die, and A Lap Dance Is So Much Better When the Stripper Is Crying. What listeners might not realize is that after the final track, there is a little treat for listeners in the form of a complete 39 hour long audiobook of Simone de Beauvoir’s masterpiece of feminist philosophy, “The Second Sex.”
Morrissey “Viva Hate”
Patience rewards the listeners of Morrissey’s 1988 solo album because if they wait for twelve minutes of silence after “Margaret on the Guillotine” they get to hear Morrissey order 8 cheeseburgers with everything before proceeding to eat them one by one seemingly in a state of transcendental ecstasy. While Morrissey has never commented on the track, he has been known to drool uncontrollably when asked about it in interviews.
Metallica “St. Anger”
If you wait a few seconds after the end of “All Within My Hands,” you’ll be asked by the record for your name. If you answer, the album will then serve you a lawsuit from Lars Ulrich for any number of crimes be in peer to peer file sharing, not enjoying the flat drumming style of the album, or enjoying that episode of “South Park” that made fun of him. You’ll then need to appear in court within ten days.
Michael Jackson “Invincible”
Famously not a fan of rock and roll, Michael Jackson did make an exception for Iowa natives Slipknot. On his 2001 album, Jackson hid a cover of “Wait and Bleed” that returns the frantic anger of the original while still adding a dance breakdown and a guest appearance by Chris Tucker.
Slipknot “Iowa”
Slipknot never shied away from declaring that the main influence on their music, outlook, and appearance is the post-disco stylings of the Jackson 5. It is fitting then that they hid a track on their second album dedicated not just to their love of the Jacksons but also their love and peace and understanding. Their version of “Heal the World” may contain eight thousand separate drums but the emotions stay true to the original.