Songfacts®:

• If you ever wanted a rock song that arrives, makes an unholy racket, and then bolts for the exit before you can fully process what just happened, "Modern Times Rock 'n' Roll" is your tune. Clocking in at a mere 1:48, it's one of Queen's most frantic offerings, written and sung by drummer Roger Taylor. Because why let lead singer Freddie Mercury have all the fun?
• Released in 1973 on Queen's self-titled debut album, the song is a high-speed homage to rock stardom and the shifting musical landscape of the early '70s. It also doubles as a theme song for the era's electric glam-rock excess, complete with "high heel guitar-style boots" and the kind of drum sound that suggests someone may have been setting off fireworks in the studio.
• At the end of the third verse, Queen's producer, John Anthony, shouts "Look Out!" in a deep voice. This ties back to the verse's earlier mention of a producer who promises to "make you a real big star."
• Queen aficionados have long debated whether the band was predicting punk with this track. "I was sort of saying, 'Hello, we're a bit different.' I don't know about predicting punk, but it was all about the sensibilities of pure rock 'n' roll," Roger Taylor told Uncut magazine. "It sounds a bit naive now, but it's still got something."
• This is the only track on the Queen album with someone other than Freddie Mercury on lead vocals. However, by the time the band took the song on the road, Mercury had claimed the mic. In the concert version included in Live at the Rainbow '74, Mercury handled lead.