I'm a guitar freak, totally, but I dont just want to listen to guys shredding at 30 notes per second all the time, so I listen to a lot of blues, jazz and folk, as well as hard rock, metal and grind.
I feel I can appreciate the musicians, what with being a musician myself, but I have a friend who doesnt play and he's totally into power metal and shred, he doesnt like music that doesnt have guitar solos, so cool bands like hatebreed and killswitch engage hold no interest for him. I think that's kind of sad, he's totally cutting his own throat with an attitude like that.
I hung out with him for a week or so and by the end of it, I came home, looked at my iron maiden records and vowed to not play them for 6 months at least.
Some of the guys he's into are amazing players, but it gets gratuitous, and I get bored of it after a week. When we hang out, it used to be me who would put all the guitar music on, but at certain points I just wanted to hear rap music or something with no guitars, just for a break.
I own most classic era shrapnel stuff, and I know my shredders, I'm a huge fan of jason becker, paul gilbert, michael lee ferkins, james murphy and dozens of others. I also like bands like Isis and neurosis, who use the guitar to add layers and texture to a song.
I guess what I'm trying to say is 12 hours of solid shred guitar, every day for 2 weeks, kinda wears you down somewhat!