The Trinity of Favorite Bands of All Time:
Rush - Dream Theater - Pain of Salvation
Once upon a time Queensryche was up there, but as I'm sure everyone knows, the mighty have fallen. The bands in the trinity are those whom I can always listen to, never cease to amaze me, and who have never written a song I didn't like (although I can rarely be found in the mood for Rush's first CD, but they make up for that with 16 other studio releases I love the crap out of).
Among other favorite current bands:
Symphony X, Evergrey, Iced Earth (not so sure about Ripper though), Blind Guardian, Sun Caged, Opeth, Neversomethingorother, Savatage, Kamelot (Khan pwnz), Angra, Steve Vai
Bands I haven't listened to lately but who deserve mention for their fantasticalness:
Zero Hour, Power of Omens, Watchtower/Spastic Ink, classic Megadeth, Children of Bodom, Control Denied ... and I'm drawing a blank though I'm sure there are others