I appreciate all the commentary, the discourse, the sarcasm, and the spirited debate.
As the OP i get to be the adjudicator, so i'm going to weigh in on the suggestions. :-D
I was looking for songs that build and then strike with both power and punch, which has a much to do with engineering techniques, as the arrangement. When did the crisp kick drum that sounds like a basketball bouncing on a gym floor team up with guitar power chords in rock ballads?
Hendrix "Bold As Love" - sort of, but the lowend doesn't really punch: it's too boomy.
Styx "Lady" 1973 - I'll allow it!
Sabbath "Changes" - while a ballad, there is no power, no punch
Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love" - i'm not buying it as a ballad
Nazereth "Love Hurts" 1974 - close, but i'm not feeling the punch. to me it stays in rock ballad land
Led Zeppelin "Stairway To Heaven" 1971 - is it really about a relationship though?
Dusty Springfield "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" - not even a rock song. it's a pop song of the era
Nina Simone "Feeling Good" - again, not even a rock song. it's a pop song of the era
Moody Blues "Nights In White Satin" 1967 - i'm not buying it from a punchy mix perspective
Righteous Brothers "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" - no punch in the mix
Roy Orbison "Oh, Pretty Woman" - no punch in the mix
Animals "House of the Rising Sun" - no punch in the mix
Led Zeppelin "Dazed and Confused" - not buying this as a ballad. it's a stoner song, a jam
REO "Can't Fight This Feeling" 1984 - perfect example but it's from '84
MC5 "Kick Out the Jams" - not a ballad
Motley Crue "Home Sweet Home" - perfect example but from the 80's
Chicago "If You Leave Me Now" - no punch in the mix
Chicago "Hard Habit To Break" - isn't this from 1984?
Cambridge Dictionary - they're just wrong. I agree with DTR on this
Spinal Tap "Lick My Love Pump" - <spits coffee on screen>
Poison "Every Rose" - perfect example but from the 80's
Scorpions "Another Piece Of Meat" - now THAT is funny! :-D
Carpenters "Goodbye To Love" - no punch. it's a pop mix
Night Ranger - "Sister Christian" - perfect example but from the 80's
Boston "More Than A Feeling" - i'll allow it but it was a year after "Feel Like Making Love"
Journey - all songs - from the late 70's and 80's
Whitesnake "Is This Love" - from the 80's
Led Zeppelin "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" 1969 - i'll allow it. very zeppelinesque so it is disguised but it has enough punch, enough building and falling.
Led Zeppelin "Thank You" 1969 - This was actually the first song at my wedding. In retrospect not the easiest song to which a couple can dance. I'm on the fence with this one. While the drums are punchy the bass is polite and boomy. on the fence; on the fence
Led Zeppelin "All Of My Love" 1979 - too late
McCartney/Wings "Maybe I'm Amazed" - a reasonable submission, but the original 1970 track was a polite powerless mix, so it's just a ballad with lots of layers. The live Wings version, while packing more of a wallop, didn't come out until 1976 so it's after other contenders