Not exactly, but they were very cooperative about installing modules beyond those on their basic list. (FWIW, my experience w/DreamHost was pretty good except for some horrors in assuming responsibility for a client's site -- for which the client had neglected to obtain account-change authority or passwords from a webmaster who subsequently went AWOL).

But other hosting providers are also cooperative; since we have named one name, here's another: HostRocket which is generous with shell access, as well.

Turning back to metaperl's "full control" suggestion: that phrase implies, to me, a dedicated server. That's considerably more expensive than shared hosting, but is frequently well worth the cost (of course, the reverse is also often true).