Secret Songs: Anthrax- Pieces

2021 marks 40 years since Anthrax formed. Over the past month or so, they have been putting up mini docs about each period of their career. Its quite fascinating to hear these stories and how everything came together. On a more recent episode which focused on the underrated album, Volume 8: The Threat Is Real, there was a part where Frank Bello was talking about the song he wrote “Pieces” for his brother Anthony, who was murdered. This song is so damn heartfelt and good. It’s a wonderful tribute and also shows how good Frank is at singing and writing.

Anthrax- Pieces:

Secret Songs: Staind- Excess Baggage

This category is quite fun to do. Going back to certain albums and remembering the secret songs, is always interesting. I miss the days when you’d buy an album and discover there was something hidden at the end. I don’t know how or why but, the other day I remembered that at the end of the Staind album Dysfunction there was a hidden track. The song is just Aaron Lewis and an acoustic guitar. Anyways here’s “Excess Baggage.”

Staind- Excess Baggage:

 

 

Secret Songs: Nine Inch Nails- Suck

At the end of Nine Inch Nails’ epic EP Broken, there are not one but, two secret songs hidden amongst all the silence. The first is a cover of the Adam and The Ants song “Physical” and the other is a killer version of the Pigface song “Suck.” Trent was actually a part of Pigface and wrote and sang on the original version. The one found at the end of Broken is a lot grittier and sinister than the original. It’s also worth noting too that, the lives version of the song found on And All That Could Have Been and the Woodstock 94 set, are stellar as well.

 

Nine Inch Nails- Suck:

 

Nine Inch Nails- Suck (Live Woodstock 94):

 

Secret Songs: Placebo- Black Market Blood

Placebo are no strangers to the hidden track, as their first three albums each had one at their respective ends. The two on their first two records were more experimental, instrumental songs, but on Black Market Music, there is an actual song. It’s a slow burner of a song and you can sort of get a glimpse of where the band was headed with their next album on it. The song “Black Market Blood” is one of the best songs in Placebo’s catalog and the best song on this album. It’s got all the elements that make the band who they are. It sure would be great to hear them play this one live one day.

Placebo- Black Market Blood:

 

Secret Songs: Nirvana- Endless, Nameless

I still remember listening to Nirvana’s Nevermind all the way through the first time and wondering why there was all this empty dead air after “Something In The Way.” Then, after about 10 minutes of silence “Endless, Nameless” begins to play and it all makes sense. The song itself is an interesting one. It’s a very Sonic Youth inspired song with all the noise but, it also has this really cool vibe that acts as a precursor of sorts (all be it probably indirectly) for what would become the raw sound attached to In Utero. It’s also worth noting that this is the only other song on Nevermind credited to all three members of Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” being the other.

Nirvana- Endless, Nameless:

 

Secret Songs: Deftones- Damone

On Deftones second album (and my personal favorite) 1997’s Around The Fur, it didn’t just have one hidden track, but two. After the final song “MX” finishes, there’s about 15 minutes of silence before there’s a 20 second skit/recording called Bong Hit, which is exactly what it sounds like. Some 13 minutes after that, though, “Damone” begins and the rest is history! This song shouldn’t have been a hidden track. It’s too damn good not to be included in the original sequence of the album. No matter what though, Deftones really knocked it out of the park with this one!

Deftones- Damone:

 

 

Secret Songs: AFI-The Spoken Word & This Time Imperfect

NEW TOPIC!!! This one will showcase all the hidden songs at the end of albums. You know the ones you had to wait 10-20 minutes for after the last song ended.

A.F.I.’s 2003 album Sing The Sorrow was quite a success. The album saw the band shift their sound even more from their once hardcore/horror punk roots. The end result though, despite many of the bands early fans not accepting the change, was an album that is pretty damn good. The album also featured two hidden tracks at the end.  After a brief silence at the end of “…Bit Home Is Nowhere”, piano music begins to play as guitarist Jade Puget’s younger brother Gibson speaks the first third of the poem. After the poem is concluded, the hidden track “This Time Imperfect” fades in, featuring a guitar playing backwards and extensive sampling. “This Time Imperfect” is a really cool song that contains a lot of the elements heard on Sing The Sorrow.

A.F.I.- The Spoken Word/This Time Imperfect: