Happy Trails, Mike Stone

Well, I guess we know why Michael Wilton recorded all of the guitars on American Soldier: Mike Stone just announced he's quitting Queensryche so "he can focus on other musical endeavors." Nice words to be sure, but now I wonder: did the band cut Stone out of the recording process and he quit in disgust, or did he check out during the writing/recording process to put together Speed X and the band fired him in private? I guess we'll have to wait for the unauthorized biography to find out.