You know that feeling when you put on your winter jacket for the first time of the season and you reach into the pocket only to pull out some crumpled up cash? Oh, the jubilation! It's a lot like the feeling you get when you're listening to an album for the dozenth time, only to discover that there's suddenly more music that wasn't there before. "How...how did this get here?" you wonder. "Did a very meticulous and dedicated prankster sneak into my room while I was asleep and switch out the old album for an uncannily similar album that features some of their own musical stylings? Who would even do that?" No, it's just the band adding a little something special to their album. Hidden tracks are kind of like those extra scenes in superhero movies that run after all of the credits have rolled. Consider them a secret handshake between the band and their listeners. They know only the most diehard fans will ever stumble upon them, making it a reward for their loyalty and diligence. Sometimes these hidden little gems are just as good as--or even better than--the rest of the songs on the album, which begs the question, "Why hide them at all?"
13. 3 Doors Down - "This Time"
3 Doors Down is not a group typically known for making particularly dark or moody music, but this hidden track found at the end of 2002's otherwise cookie-cutter Away From the Sun is a beautifully haunting little gem that might have been a little too different, stylistically, for their fans to appreciate. "This Time" would fit much better on their debut album, The Better Life, where the overall mood was more melancholic. Still, after 11 generally upbeat, glossy tracks, it's a pleasant surprise to find something so stylistically different than anything they'd done up to that point.