# Bands with fifteen minutes of silence on their CDs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892 "2006-01-13T22:38:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/21 "2006-01-14T06:34:53Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Sometimes I go on iTunes and discover that a CD I’ve had for ages has a hidden track that I never bothered to look for. Just recently happened to me. I’ve had Rascall Flatts’ latest cd for over a year now, having just found out their single “Sarabeth” is about five minutes after their last track. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/22 "2006-01-14T06:53:11Z")
In iTunes, there’s a setting for each file that allows you to specify the start and end times on the track. I once made a quick and dirty solution to the problem of extended silence/hidden track by importing the song twice, and manually setting them so that only the music played. Kinda wasteful of space, but who doesn’t have HD space to spare these days? (I did figure out how to edit out the empty space and split off the hidden track eventually…) ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/23 "2006-01-14T07:12:24Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I was thinking the same thing. (Hint: If you use Windows, you have one.) Stand alone CD players run Windows? I remember when Def Leppard released _The Vault_ in the early or mid 90’s, they had a version of Miss You in a Heartbeat that was just Joe Elliott signing with a piano as the only music. To this day it’s far and away my favorite rock ballad. After the last track, you had to hold the fast-forward button to skip the 14 (I think) minutes of silence to get to it. Now, I realize that to many people popping a CD into your computer is the norm, but that wasn’t always so. Holy shit, at 32 I sound like the stereotypical old fart. People don’t understand how rapidly technology has advanced in the last 10 years. But I digress. The point is, the “hidden track” was “innovative” and a “reward” to listening to a CD until it ended. Even if you were the first to “find” it, it just showed that you didn’t have the sense to play another CD after 5 minutes of silence coming from your speakers. We couldn’t edit this shit. The fact that there are still hidden files that are posted to message boards 9 seconds after a release shows how out of touch the PTB in the recoding industry are. Sad really. If I buy a CD, I expect the content to be listed. If they want to break that rule, I’ll follow my own. Either way, I get the music. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/24 "2006-01-14T07:32:54Z")
I must be incredibly naive. I still think hidden tracks are cool. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/25 "2006-01-14T07:32:15Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Didn’t the Beatles do the same thing with _Sergeant Pepper’s_? Yes - the runout track on the LP had a repeating loop in it. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/26 "2006-01-14T08:46:55Z")
I’m with **jackelope**. “Secret song … You’re the secretest song on the album secret song…” ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/27 "2006-01-14T12:38:31Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I was thinking the same thing. (Hint: If you use Windows, you have one.) > > The other day my girlfriend was sitting at my computer going through my mp3 files and discovered a piano ballad version of one of her favorite songs. She asked me where I got it, and I told her it was on the CD, about 15 minutes after the last song. She had never noticed that before. > > Makes me wonder how anyone is not supposed to see it. I mean, if you play it on Windows Media Player, iTunes, Real Player, Quicktime, or any other media player, you should see that the last track is 15-20 minutes longer than the last song. Your loss if you don’t notice it. I find that it’s usually one of the better songs on the album. I don’t play music on my computer. I play it on the CD player. If I have a CD that has a huge chunck of dead air, I will never hear what comes after that. I had no idea this was common. I better go check all my CDs. What a fucking waste! ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/28 "2006-01-14T13:23:45Z")
Anyone purchase a CD to listen to a long silent gap? A long silent gap on a CD is no more than a deliberate defect. Immature embuggerance. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/29 "2006-01-14T13:37:29Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Stand alone CD players run Windows? Probably not, but they usually don’t have .wav editors either. > [@duffer](#): > > The fact that there are still hidden files that are posted to message boards 9 seconds after a release shows how out of touch the PTB in the recoding industry are. Clearly not everyone scours the message boards online after buying a CD, otherwise everyone in this thread who recently discovered a “hidden” track would’ve already known about it. I usually do, since the first thing I do when I open a new CD is to put it in my computer and rip it. It’s kind of hard not to notice when the last track is 20:00 but the song is only 4:30. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/30 "2006-01-14T14:40:01Z")
NIN ‘Broken’ EP [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/samples/B000001Y5J/ref=dp\_tracks\_all\_1/002-3071329-8056053?\_encoding=UTF8#disc\_1](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/samples/B000001Y5J/ref=dp_tracks_all_1/002-3071329-8056053?%5Fencoding=UTF8#disc_1) 6 songs tracks, then blank tracks until the “hidden” songs on tracks 98 and 99. One on my favorite NIN discs musically, but that shit is annoying. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/31 "2006-01-14T14:50:18Z")
> [@jakeline](#): > > Grrr, this drives me NUTS every time I listen to Odelay by Beck. Not only is there this long silence (annoying in and of itself, but not terrible), then there’s this noise that’s a mixture between nails on a chalkboards and brakes on a car going bad. And it isn’t like on Dookie by Green Day where the song is mastered pretty low. That shit is LOUD. Good lord, it makes me jump every freakin’ time! “Weird Al” Yankovic’s _Off the Deep End_ does the same thing, with the long silence and then the loud awful noises. It’s parodying Nirvana’s _Nevermind_, and I wonder if any car crashes have been caused by it. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/32 "2006-01-14T15:15:55Z")
For those having problems with mp3 files, there’s a freeware program called **mp3DirectCut** that’s pretty good for cutting out unwanted bits. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/33 "2006-01-14T18:16:57Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > NIN ‘Broken’ EP > [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/samples/B000001Y5J/ref=dp\_tracks\_all\_1/002-3071329-8056053?\_encoding=UTF8#disc\_1](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/samples/B000001Y5J/ref=dp_tracks_all_1/002-3071329-8056053?%5Fencoding=UTF8#disc_1) > 6 songs tracks, then blank tracks until the “hidden” songs on tracks 98 and 99. > > One on my favorite NIN discs musically, but that shit is annoying. I’m glad I was on top of this one - a limited number of the original run was released with the first six songs on one cd and the other two on a 3" bonus disc. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/34 "2006-01-14T18:44:19Z")
This thread has definitely gone in a Cafe Society direction. Let’s move it there. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/35 "2006-01-15T01:23:12Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Didn’t the Beatles do the same thing with _Sergeant Pepper’s_? _Abbey Road_\*; about 20 seconds after “The End” you get “Her Majesty,” which was cut from the middle of the side-two medley, then later taped on to the end, by a recording engineer, with a pretty good chunk of blank tape in front of it. The Beatles never said anything about it, and it was kept on the album that way. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/36 "2006-01-15T01:26:10Z")
> [@Happy Lendervedder](#): > > _Abbey Road_\*; about 20 seconds after “The End” you get “Her Majesty,” which was cut from the middle of the side-two medley I knew about that. I was referring to the original _Sgt. Peppers_ album, which would loop the end of _A Day in the Life_ infinitely until you took the needle off the record. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/37 "2006-01-15T01:27:17Z")
It should also be noted that although it was originally a hidden track, _Her Majesty_ is now listed on the track listing of _Abbey Road_. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/38 "2006-01-15T03:29:17Z")
> [@Droolian](#): > > Jeesus, what a bunch of spoiled crybaby whiners y’all are. > > "_I bought this CD 'cause the band is stupid cool and was listening to the whole thing and then there was all this silence and then after like, **years** of silence there was this other song. But like, it wasn’t a good song, it really sucked."_ > > How mature. > > Don’t go away mad, just go away. **Droolian**? Somehow I don’t think we’re in the Pit anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/39 "2006-01-15T04:39:21Z")
The first time I noticed this (Good heavens, this will date me. Date me as being a young’un, but in my defense, I didn’t purchase music of any kind until high school) I was listening to Jagged Little Pill. I’d put the CD on while I was cleaning my room and didn’t really pay attention when it went off; I was busy with something or other. And then, a few minutes later, I hear this… voice? Music? Singing, or talking? I’d never even HEARD of hidden tracks before. I thought this was majorly cool. I hadn’t heard of any recent CDs that do it, though. You can’t really blame people decades ago for not thinking of the MP3 player… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892/40 "2006-01-15T06:17:14Z")
I have a Big Bad Voodoo Daddy CD from 2004 with a hidden track at the end. Not hidden very well, thanks to Gracenote. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-fifteen-minutes-of-silence-on-their-cds/339892.md?page=3)