12 Best Hard Rock Deep Cuts

After four self-titled albums and a host of musical greatness in the rearview, Led Zeppelin used their next album to experiment with alternate styles. Across Houses of the Holy, there are tunes that have elements of folk, reggae, and even funk incorporated into Zeppelin's traditional bluesy sound. One particular highlight is "The Rain Song," whose composition helped stretch the band musically.

While fiddling around with his guitar, Jimmy Page found a relatively unknown tuning and started experimenting with different chord changes until he hit on a breathtaking guitar part. After bringing it to the rest of the band, Page remembered a comment made by George Harrison that the band did not have any ballads in their repertoire. For the arrangement, the group went all-out by incorporating everything from the Mellotron to a lush orchestra overdubbed. What unfolded was a grand foray into progressive rock, with a vocal performance by Robert Plant that he himself ranks among one of his greatest.

Even if he was allegedly trying to spite a Beatle, Jimmy Page turned "the Rain Song" from a random guitar experiment to one of the most cinematic songs that Led Zeppelin would ever compose.