According to Contactmusic.com, GUNS N' ROSES mainman Axl Rose has denied he changed former QUEEN star Brian May's contribution to the new GN'R album out of "spite" - insisting it sounded good at the time.

In 1999 the legendary musician recorded a guitar solo for new track 'Catcher N' The Rye', which features on the band's long-awaited new LP, Chinese Democracy. May's efforts were subsequently edited beyond recognition, with the star insisting "it was a shame" to see his work go to waste.

Frontman Rose admits the end result - a combination of different edits in the studio with producer Sean Beavan - was a shock to May when he heard the playback.

He writes on the band's official website, "There's a few reasons (why May's part was edited), and none of them all that big and definitely not in spite or to slight anyone. Brian's solo itself is a personal fave of mine and I really couldn't understand, as he's such a rock legend, why it wasn't openly appreciated more at the time. (It) had a lot to do with Sean (Beavan) and I and the parts I chose out of Brian's different runs, versions, practice runs. And though Brian seems to have warmed a bit to it, at least publicly, he was unfortunately none too pleased at the time with our handiwork. I remember looking at Brian standing to my left and him staring at the big studio speakers a bit aghast saying, 'But that's not what I played'. Sean Beavan and I were not in any way trying to mess with Brian, we just did what we do and then try and do our best to stand up for our decisions."