5 Hidden Tracks From ’90s Grunge Albums You Definitely Missed

Everyone gather ’round, and let’s get ready for story time, kids! There once was a time when music was available physically. You could buy it from a store and hold the music in your hand! While today everyone gets their favorite tunes via some invisible stream, decades ago you could get your music on record, tape, or CD.

Another special feature about those albums was that some of them contained a thing called a secret track. Say it with me… secret track! Because an album didn’t provide an onscreen playlist, there were ways for artists to have a little fun with their fans. So, they added those secret tracks onto the end of their albums as a little bonus.

Here, we wanted to take a look at a handful of these secret tracks that you almost assuredly missed on your favorite ’90s grunge albums. These are five hidden tracks from grunge albums in the ’90s you might have never heard.

“Endless, Nameless” by Nirvana from Nevermind (1991)

The final song on the iconic grunge band’s 1991 LP, Nevermind, this loud, brutal song and hidden track plays about 10 minutes after what was thought to be the record’s final tune (“Something in the Way”).

Want to hear lead singer Kurt Cobain seemingly destroy his vocal cords? Then put this one on extra loud and keep your windows shut.

“Sappy” by Nirvana from No Alternative (1993)

Another from Nirvana, this song wasn’t originally released on one of their albums. Instead, it was a hidden track on a 1993 AIDS benefit record, No Alternative, which came out in 1993.

The song boasts the signature distorted-yet-catchy vibe that many of the best Nirvana tracks showcase. And it likely helped a lot of people, raising money for a good cause.

“Hello, Goodbye” by Blind Melon from Soup (1995)

This album included not one but two short hidden tracks. There is (remarkably) a short hidden song in the “pregap” of the CD. For fans to hear it, they have to press rewind as soon as track one on the CD plays. Good luck with that coordination!

Along with that, the album also includes the 52-second horn-driven hidden track, “Hello, Goodbye.”

“Kitchenware & Candybars” by Stone Temple Pilots from Purple (1994)

This hefty, buzzy rock record concludes with the stripped-down acoustic-driven song “Kitchenware & Candybars,” which itself is a standout. But the track that song is on continues into something completely different, a more loungey tongue-in-cheek offering. Maybe after so much heavy rock, STP just needed a chance to exhale and have a little fun.

“woC eht rehtorB yM” by Mudhoney from My Brother the Cow (1995)

The original version of this 1995 album included a 34-minute hidden track called “woC eht rehtorB yM,” which was essentially the entire album, just played backward.

Leave it to the innovative Mudhoney to do something most bands have mused over but never had the guts to just do. Maybe if you listen close, you’ll hear the devil and Paul McCartney whispering.