10 Best Classic Rock Ballads

From their first outing, Led Zeppelin were known for just how big their records sounded. The maniacal riffs of Jimmy Page always seemed to be anchored by the tremendous sonic force of John Bonham's drums. Even if the band could deliver a primal groove, "Going to California" showed their ability of playing subdued passages in equal measure.

Much of the band's earlier story-driven songs had an influence from the works of JRR Tolkien, but this song was probably the clearest sonic image that they had ever painted. The subtle acoustic fingerpicking of Page makes you feel like you're floating through a garden as Robert Plant delicately croons overhead. Centered around a jilted man, the lyrics are both depressing and forward-looking at the same time. Plant may have his heart broken, but he is moving on to wider pastures as he looks for the ideal partner to live his life with.

There may have been other heavy acts tearing up the charts, but none of them had the ability to tear your head off in one instant and sing a line like "there's a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair" on the very next track. This type of musical diversity is the main reason we're still talking about Zeppelin all these years later.