10 Most Underrated Rock Ballads Of All Time

There aren't too many rock fans out in the wild who actually get excited for the ballad from their favorite band. For the people who are into the headbanging songs, these are the kind of tracks that are meant for pop radio that bring things down a notch. That doesn't necessarily mean that these are bad songs in any way. In fact, if you look hard enough, a lot of these tracks come close to being the highlights of the band's career.

Since you don't have to worry about being completely rock focused all the time, these are the tracks where the musicians can flex their musical chops a little bit more, with songs that could work just as well at a wedding reception as they would at a concert. These are still rock songs though, and none of these ballads lack any sort of muscle behind their delivery, especially when going for a lyric that punches you right in the gut.

As far as rock is concerned, these are the moments when the band starts to grow up and shows you a side of themselves that even they weren't sure they were ready to reveal. When you've written something like this though, there's no going back. You're not just a rocker anymore...you're a full blown storyteller.

Tackling the Foo Fighters' double album In Your Honor is a bit of an odd beast. After already proving themselves to be one of the greatest bands of the modern age, here were two albums packaged in one, with one of them being completely downtempo and acoustic. Though the Foos weren't strangers to the ballad format at this point, On the Mend is where things start to get a bit more interesting.

This is one of the first times where the Foos have tried to make a complete environment with their sound. Granted, all of their albums up until this point cranked it up to 10 all of the time, with most of them turning in amazing songs like Everlong. Since this is a song dealing with someone recovering from some hard times though, it makes perfect sense for this kind of arrangement, especially with a slow acoustic leading the way and Taylor Hawkins really hanging back on the drums.

And with all the pointed lyrical content, it's not even the words that land the killing blow here. Right as the song starts to trail off, you get this little piece of acoustic instrumental, which sounds like Dave trying to create a guitar symphony from the ground up. Compared to the usual great Foo Fighters tracks you blast in your car, this is the one moment where you feel like you've been taken on a journey.