It's ridiculous, why (in the last few years) so many bands have so many awesome bonus tracks?!
I'm a collector (of everything I really like) and there are too many editions with bonus tracks and it's ok, but when the bonus track is the best song (or is among the better ones) it sucks!
It's importatn to note that the japanese bonus track is frequently the best bonus (what a coincidence, the most expensive edition...)
Do you have some in mind?

I remember these right now:

Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve / bonuses: Martyrs Of Devotion, World In Haze. Why in hell is a track like Martyrs of devotion missing the regular edition?
Amorphis - Skyforger / bonus: godlike machine, the best song IMO. I don't even listened to Separated, the J-bonus track (and I don't want to, I know it's a good one...)
Kamelot - Poetry For The Poisoned / j-bonus: Thespian drama. By far the best track.
Johansson - The Last Viking / j-bonus: Samurai. The heaviest and fastest song and it didn't make it (???)
Dark Tranquillity - Fiction / bonuses (in some out of print editions): Below the Radiance, Silence in the House of Tongues, Winter Triangle, A Closer End. 4 bonus tracks! not covers, demos or live tracks but exclusive studio songs... so ridiculous! and all of them are anthems!
Stratovarius - Nemesis / j-bonus: Kill It With Fire, a keyboards blast, an absolute eargasm if you like johansson's playing!

and there are many more (sadly)

Many cases if its sortha extreme band and bonus track are accustic or werry rare version
or band change styke and bonus track are old one

Interesting topic. I don't know any albums where the bonus tracks were the best, but I know some where they were quite good (I think):

Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (Escapist, seriously better than most tracks on the album)
Nightwish - Wishmaster (Sleepwalker, they wanted to participate i the Eurovision with this song lol)
Therion - Secret Of The Runes (Crying Days [Scorpions cover], Summernight City [ABBA cover])
Leaves' Eyes - Vinland Saga (Heal)
Fairyand - Of Wars In Osyrhia (Guardian Stones)
Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia (Burn In Hell [Twisted Sister cover])
Elis - God's Silence, Devil's Temptation (Betrayal)
Epica - The Phantom Agony (Triumph of Defeat)
Epica - Requiem For The Indifferent (Nostalgia)
Mayan - Quarterpast (Sinner's Last Retreat, I don't get why it's a bonus track, it's on every version of the album I've seen)
Sinergy - Suicide By My Side (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme [Abba cover])
Within Temptation - The Silent Force (The Swan Song)
Turisas - Stand Up And Fight (Broadsword [Jethro Tull cover])

so it's just a few albums that came to my mind

Written by [user id=36134] on 25.03.2013 at 10:40

Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (Escapist, seriously better than most tracks on the album)
Within Temptation - The Silent Force (The Swan Song)

Definitely. "Escapist" in particular. It's better than pretty much all the shorter songs on that album.

Quote:

Nightwish - Wishmaster (Sleepwalker, they wanted to participate i the Eurovision with this song lol)

"Sleepwalker" is a good song, so that could have been interesting. 2000 was a very strong Eurovision year though.

Bethlehem- My way on Mein Weg genius

Back when I used to like Disturbed, I noticed that many of their best songs were bonus tracks. The Lost Children, the album that is just a collection of all of their bonus tracks, is one of their best albums for that very reason.

I hate when they do that.

They should then make a bunch of singles/EPs of that song/those songs, just an idea. Have encountered this a few times myself when the bonus track is either the best or one of the better ones.

I don't really mind it that much as long as I can get my hands on them somehow. Though it definetely puzzles me at times which songs they relegate to bonus/EP-stature and which ones they end up using for the albums. It can be interesting to insert them somewhere into the tracklist of the album and see what different elements they bring into it.

Shout out to Finntroll's 2007 album, whose untitled bonus track if untitled and is more of a polka jam session than a metal song, but still is a great listen.

In this album the bonus track is only the second best track, after the absolute gem 'En Maktig Har', easily the most memorable song by the trolls, at least imho.

Dragonforce - Lost Souls In Endless Time from Inhuman Rampage. Way better to end the album with than with the turd called Trail of Broken Hearts.

On second thought, Sonata Arctica - In The Dark from The Days of Grays was awesome too.