10 Best Hidden Tracks On Rock Music Albums

4. Train In Vain - London Calling (The Clash)

Here's another song that ended up being a hidden track by accident.

First released in the UK in 1979 (and then the following year in the United States), London Calling is the third album from British punk icons The Clash. Thanks to its popular title track and legendary artwork of Joe Strummer smashing a guitar to kingdom come, the record is one of the most instantly recognisable rock albums ever made.

Before London Calling came out, the band struck a deal with British music paper New Musical Express (NME) to give a song away for free as part of a magazine. That song was meant to be Train in Vain, but when the NME arrangement fell through, it needed a new home.

Train in Vain ended up going on London Calling, but it was too late to add it to the tracklist. As a result, fans got one more song than they expected when they bought an original pressing.

The track was later released as a single and is among the band's better known tunes. In this instance, the NME's loss turned out to be the public's gain.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.