If you say you are a U2 fan and you don't like Pop at all then I can say you're probably not a U2 fan. Please is one of the greatest songs they have ever done, not to mention one of Bono's greatest vocal deliveries of all time. Lyrically it is beautiful, one of the greatest things U2 has ever done, except for One (which to be honest I don't think deserves the "best of" accolade some people give to it, but still good nonetheless.) and Unforgettable Fire.
And that's just Please. I think people get swept up in the beats and maybe that was the intent of "silly sounding songs" like Mofo and Discotheque, but there are some very good songs on the album. Gone is another great one and I think "suit of lights" is just one of those phrases that sticks to you. At least it does for me. Linguistically, it's incredibly appealing, like "thorn twist" from With Or Without You.
Wake Up Dead Man is one of those songs I think of on rainy days that have no end, or when North Korea threatens to annihilate their neighbors. I'm jewish but sometimes I really wish we had our own dead man to wake up and save us from this world. I digress. I think this song and Staring at the Sun go hand in hand and I often wish they had been placed closer together or even reversed in order. Throw in Last Night on Earth it becomes the perfect dystopia.
Mostly, I love that the album is basically a musical progression of growth and maturity. I've read that Bono said the first three songs are the party and the rest is the hangover. I see it more like the first three songs are U2 trying to join the party, i.e. the dance music and boybands that conquered the latter half of the nineties, but ultimately giving in to the fact that they are the scorpion in that classic story. It's an album that shows melancholy and melody perfectly blended. In fact, take a look at Mofo, a song that is basically a party on E, but it's lyrics are damn sad. It's a great intro to the rest of the album that alternates between hope and despair. The Playboy Mansion highlights this pretty well.
Not my favorite album, but it's up there. There are quite a few gems. If you were going to throw any album to the proverbial wolves, it should be October. Just my two cents (and first post!)