They just annoy me cos usually they are actually good so to listen to them i have to skip to the end of a song which is annoying if I'm at the gym or something like that where I don't wanna be interrupted. It also means in a playlist there is just a huge gap in it where you have to wait for the hidden track.

Can somebody please tell me what the point in hidden tracks are?

What exactly is a 'hidden track'. I've never heard of the phrase.

This ^

from experience they make you jump!

They're kind of the CD equivalent of a scene at the end of a film after the credits have finished, but rather than have to wait for ten minutes in the cinema, you leave the CD playing after the last song has finished (usually). They're not listed on the back, hence why they're hidden.

AFAICT, the only point to them is to reward people who were too lazy to stop the CD after the last track.

Sometimes they are truly hidden being put in the gap before a track so unless you rewind you won't ever find it there is one on a Kylie album whihc i never knew about and discovering it was a revelation

There's one on Alanis Morrisettes Jagged Little Pill, you only find if you leave the CD playing.
I guess the digital download has put an end to this bizarre hidden track business.

There's one on My Chemical Romance's "The Black Parade", about 1 and a half minutes of silence after the final track there's another one called "Blood", it's a bit bizarre.

There's an incredible one on Echo by Leona Lewis.

It's called Stone Hearts. A very pleasant surprise hidden in the album.

There's one on Little Boots' album Hands. It's the title track and I only heard it once but I think it's an acoustic song.

I can usually tell theres a hidden track by the fact the song is 8 minutes ish long.

There's one on Ed Sheeran's + after Give Me Love, which is annoying cos I like Give Me Love and sometimes its makes me not want to put it in playlists.

Also on The 1975's Sex EP, there is one after the song You. I really like You, and I really like the hidden track Milk. They actually play Milk live which makes me wonder why the made it a hidden track if it's good enough to get on the set list.

There's a really weird one on Placebo's second album "Without You I'm Nothing" It's called Evil Dildo and it's just random answering machine messages. There's also one on Dido's "Life For Rent." Is it just me or are a lot of hidden tracks on second albums??

I think also there is on on Nirvana's Nevermind i i recall.

The worst ever though was Natasha Bedingfeild i think she managed to shoe horn in two hidden tracks making a single track soemthing like 13 minutes long

There has been a few brilliant hidden tracks over the years. Blue Flashing Light from Travis' The Man Who is a particular favourite of mine.

I've heard before that hidden tracks are songs that the artist likes but the record company don't like. To compromise they allow the track(s) on the album but separated from the rest of the album.

Is it Nirvana's Nevermind CD that, after the final track (if you forget to turn it off), has about 20 minutes of silence before really loud screaming blasts out and makes you jump six feet in the air? Haven't listened to the album for aeons but I'm sure I'm not imagining it, lol!

It started when cd started to take over in late 80's early 90's

They were only on the cd and not on the cassettes just like a bonus if you bought the cd( which was almost x2 the price of the casette)

Eh?
I've never bought a CD with an extra track that wasn't listed.
I've never heard of such a thing.

Of course the greatest is Sick Party by Ash on 1977.

Green Day's album "Dookie" has a hidden song in the final track. Just wait for a minute after the ending then it will begin

You might have and not realised, Afterall if it isn't listed how would you know unless you 'find' it ?

Isn't there one on Katy B's first album? I know this 'cause Hard To Get, the official final song on the album, is about 15 minutes long.

there's a brilliant, romantic one at the end of JT's 20/20 experience part 2. really silly. would prefer it as a separate song.

I was trying to see if there was a website listing hidden tracks and I came across this Wikipedia page.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_...a_hidden_track

Might be worth a look.

I have albums that I didn't realise have hidden tracks until years after I bought them.