Top Ten Bonus Tracks that are the Best Songs of Their Album
Bonus tracks are a long lasting phenomenon in all music genres. They are songs that are on an album but don't actually belong there, for several reasons. Sometimes they are only present on certain editions of the album. Maybe the album has a limited edition which contains a few more songs than the standard edition, maybe a classic album gets an anniversary edition years later with unreleased material from that recording session or B-sides added, maybe different versions of the same albums are released in other countries, or maybe an initial non-album single, soundtrack contribution or duet recorded for another artist's album becomes such an unexpectedly big hit that it gets added to their album as well.But some bonus tracks may also be hidden tracks that are not on the official tracklist, either as a track of their own or after a few seconds or minutes of silence at the end of the last song on the tracklist. On a few album tracklists, one or more songs are highlighted as bonus tracks, even though they are on every edition of the album.
Usually, bonus tracks are more of an encore for the fans and can't keep up with the main album's quality, but every once in a while, they are real treasures, and in rare cases even the album's highlight. This is what this list is about.
"Donaukinder" can be found on the 5 track bonus disc of the deluxe edition of the album "Liebe ist für alle da". It is a haunting and powerfully composed song that ranks among Rammstein's most lyrical of all, and they are probably the most lyrical German group of all time.
The song describes a trail of death around the Danube, including eerie descriptions of bad smell, blood red water, dead animals - and missing children. And how "nobody knows what happened here, no one has seen anything". A popular interpretation is that it is about how people tolerate toxic waste being dumped into the water, until the first deaths from poisoning occur.
On the standard edition of "B'Day", her hit single "Listen" from the movie "Dreamgirls" was one of two hidden tracks to appear at the end of the final song "Check on It" (the other one being a remix of "Get Me Bodied").
It is not unlikely the greatest song Beyoncé ever recorded. It shows that with the right material Beyoncé could easily be one of the great soul divas of the world, if she would focus less on catchy pop and more on powerful, traditional ballads.
Widely regarded as one of Nightwish's essential classics, and also their first hit in Germany, where they in the meantime have a big career next to their home country Finland, the magical ballad "Sleeping Sun" was not initially a part of their album "Oceanborn", which initially only consisted of 10 tracks. It was later added to the tracklist as the album's closing track on all later issues when it became a big hit.
In my not so humble opinion, Scooter's "Jumping All Over the World" is not exactly a worthy follow up to the irresistible techno pleasure they unleashed on the albums before, but nevertheless remains one of their best known records. It was re-released several times in the following years, most notably as the package "Jumping All Over the World - Whatever You Like", which came with a greatest hits compilation, and also included some cover versions of their previous songs by other bands. It may be a bit sad, but the Bloodhound Gang rock cover of "Weekend! " (which by the way is my favorite Scooter song) is the highlight of the album. Not because BHG would be in any way bad, but because the highlight of an album should be by the artist this album is by.
I must say, I think this album, in any edition, is a perfect pop record. Full of fun beats, earworm choruses, and a variety in sound and genre influences. No wonder the album was unavoidable on an international scale and spawned many hits that still get airplay.
And while it has a constant high quality throughout, the highlight may be the blissfully spooky dance hit "Disturbia", which can be found on the re-issue "Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded" and was also released as a single.
Only three Blood on the Dance Floor albums had a wide physical CD release in Europe, "Evolution", "Bad Blood" and "The Anthem of the Outcast". The problem is, the latter only is an EP with 6 new songs, two remixes and an intro. To market it as a full studio album (the "EP" was removed from the title and cover artwork), the 3 songs from the "Clubbed to Death" EP (even though the two other do not stylistically fit) were added, which includes "Where's My Wonderland". This is probably the best song they have ever recorded. It has a dark atmosphere, a powerful chorus, Alice in Wonderland inspired lyrics and a general dreamy feel. It's also the reason why I simply can't hate this band.
Despite having been unfairly panned by German critics, Jeanette's fifth album "Naked Truth" (2006) is a good pop rock album that combined her old teen pop style from her first two albums with the Avril Lavigne-ish pop punk from her third and fourth record. "Run With Me" (2004) was released as a non-album single to promote the game The Sims 2 in Germany. It is a powerful angry rock song with a cool guitar solo, strings and chants in the background. On the deluxe edition, "Run With Me" was added as a bonus track on the album. It's listed as a "rock extended version", but it's the regular 4 minute video version.
PS: The audio sample is a stupid holiday remix for her christmas album, not the actual version.
Sarah Connor's 2015 release "Muttersprache" is a wonderful and heartfelt album. It is Connor's debut in the German language and also has her writing all the songs while usually she was mostly performing. The album was a blockbuster in Germany and sold more than a million copies, and so it was just natural that there are several deluxe editions of it, with different bonus tracks. On the edition I have, there is a bonus disc with 7 songs in both German and English. "Come Home" is outstanding, for its folk rock outfit, combined with Connor's soulful singing.
Despite being commonly associated with the album "Mind the Gap", "Jigga Jigga! " was not initially present on the album's standard version and was released as a non-album single. The album has had several deluxe editions and re-releases and on all "Jigga Jigga! " was included. The album has a trance sound resembling of the previous album "The Stadium Techno Experience" and an unusually slow graceful chorus inspired by Enya, for which the song's stomping techno beat stops.
A Japanese Bonus Track on Risk that was also a theme song to a video game was the best song
Despite being the biggest hit of the album internationally, "Super Bass" is only a bonus track on most of the many different editions "Pink Friday", and is not even included on the standard edition.
"Super Bass" is a pop rap song with a strong sung chorus that will be stuck in your ear, a bright pink sugary beat and some nice rapping. The status as the album's best song is tied with "Dear Old Nicki", which is on every edition of the album and is a song that shows that Nicki can indeed rap with some deeper lyrics.
This is a stretch because it was originally released as a single back in 2013, but then it was later re-released on 'Venom: Deluxe Edition' as the last bonus track, so that makes it fair game.
That said it's a legitimately awesome song with the dark opening, catchy riffs and it showcases the talent of all the musicians in the band.
I'd say it's worth getting the Deluxe Edition of 'Venom' for this song alone.
Bonus Track on Hammered