His playing is often less than tasteful (although it's not always all about shred), but I hate to rip on the guy becuase a) he is one of the most technically proficient guitarists in history, and b) he's a super nice guy. He posts over at the John Petrucci forum quite often, and he's humble pie, really a nice guy.
He gets ripped on much more than he deserves too, mainly because people only know him for his shred.