If you go with Option 1, I would also take a look at the Carvin V3. You likely won't need the boosts and EQ to get the tone you are after.
Even though it comes off as a high gain head, it actually can cover a TON of ground. When I was at the Carvin store in Santa Ana, I tried them all.. Legacy II, Legacy, X100B, V3, and their Solid state and tweed models. I have heard some dudes pull some ripping tones out of the X100B, but I couldn't do it in 10 minutes of dialing, so I stopped... I already have a Mesa Mark III that is a tweakers dream.
The Legacy's were awesome, very smooth and bottom heavy, great for leads. Rhythms were a bit muddy for me. Also they didn't seem as versatile. But man the lead tone was pretty sweet. The Legacy II had more gain and was tighter, but just didn't do it for me.
The V3 though, could cover a lot of ground. I was very impressed. If I buy another head that will be at the top of my list to try again. The high gain metal tone to me was a bit generic, it didn't have a distinctive voice like a Peavey, or ENGL, or Bogner, or something with a distinctive midrange. But it covered it nice and tight with plenty of saturation and punch. Under a mic live or in the studio it would be just fine.
If you are handy with your volume knob it really responded well and picking/playing dynamics. I was dailing blues tones, rock, 80's metal, doom, jazzy cleans, etc. and they all were just popping like it was meant to.
For Option 2, modelers have come a long way. The Axe-FX I have heard impressive clips.
The Eleven would probably be fine for the tones you mentioned and would cover blues and cleans. Personally I haven't heard the modern scoop thing done with that very well (ie. Meshuggah, Soilwork, In Flames, etc.). But it will cover the older Metallica, Ozzy, BLS probably well.
I have the GSP1101 and I am a fan. Great modeller, probably the best in its price range. Definitely beats out the POD's and the Behringer. If you get that, get the "beta" firmware, it gives you more amp sims and more flexibility with the FX. The Legacy sim in there is actually very good. Even just for the FX it is excellent.
For the tones you mentioned, the ENGL e530, Mesa Triaxis, Marshall JMP-1 are all great. The ADA would do it too. The Digitech GSP2101 I would take a serious look at too, excellent pre. Rocktron stuff to me has always been to fizzy or not organic enough. Basically they sounded like a modeler but weren't modelers. Oh and also take a look at the SansAmp PSA-1.1, another excellent sounding preamp.
The beauty of something like the GSP1101 or GSP2101 is that you also get all the effects you could ever want. So if you are doing the Ozzy thing you can add the effects you need. Plus with the versatility of boosts, post EQ's, etc, your tonal options are nearly endless. The GSP1101 core tones are good as well as the 2101. The others you will probably want additional effects later.
If you search around on YouTube, there is a guy that compares the GSP1101, some Rocktron stuff, Triaxis, etc. Search around, not the best since it is a camera mic and different performances, but it gives you an idea.
