Brian May on His ‘Odd Experience’ Working with Axl Rose on ‘Chinese Democracy’
Brian May was involved with the recording of Guns N’ Roses’ infamous Chinese Democracy album, and while his contributions ended up being cut from the album, the guitar icon recently opened up about his experience working with the enigmatic Axl Rose.
In a new interview with Classic Rock (as transcribed by Guitar World), May said, “It was an odd experience. I think it was about midway through the whole thing. By that point Axl was pretty much a recluse. He was working in his house, and I was working in the studio at the bottom of the hill with his engineer at the time, and he only rarely came down. Now and again he would call in and get all enthusiastic and talk a lot, and then he’d be gone again. I don’t think any of what I played actually got onto the album.”
May’s recorded but cut work was attached to the track “Catcher In The Rye.” Back in 2008, May would say regarding his work being cut from Chinese Democracy, “Well, it is a shame, perhaps … I did put quite a lot of work in, and was proud of it. But I could understand if Axl wants to have an album which reflects the work of the members of the band as it is, right now. I do have mixes of the tracks with my guitar on, work tapes at the time, but they will remain private, out of respect for Axl.”
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