Rush, DT
If you ever cruise the Rush forums, you'll see a lot of Dream Theater bashing in the style of DT="musical masturbation". I don't want to hijack this thread, but I have yet to hear a DT song that conveyed soul and not cheese (that singer...man...). I look forward to hear JP's playing on the new G3 CD to see if it changes my mind.
Rush is great, the R30 tour was great, the two shows I saw before that were great. Obviously, they're an acquired taste. Because they're goofy and because they pretty much do what they want musically, there are a lot of odd things that go into their tunes - but that makes them that much more rewarding.
The last original studio album, Vapor Trails, is a great disc, and every bit as complex and aggressive as their earlier stuff. Except no 12-20 minute epics like they used to do, which I still miss.