You know, I think it might be worthwhile to fully articulate my opinion on why I hate Achtung Baby. It seems some folk here are having a bit of trouble understanding the perspective of those of us who dislike Achtung, so here's my comprehensive explanation.
The album as a whole: I listen to albums for a cohesive, complete experience. Atmosphere and themes mean a lot to me. However, I find Achtung incredibly incohesive; it is jarring, disjointed, and has one of the worst track orders of any U2 album. I get no sense of cohesion, just a band trying too hard to come up with something new and ending up with a patchy mishmash of material.
Furthermore, I just don't like the change. I prefer the political U2 of the eighties. I'm also a fan of irony, but I feel it was much better realised later in the nineties. I also just don't feel the passion or artistry that I hear in albums such as Boy, UF, and JT. I feel it returned for Zooropa, but Achtung feels very "dead" to me. It does not have much of a soul, it doesn't stimulate much of an emotional response in me at all. It leaves me thinking "... that can't have been the band that could bring a tear to my eye with One Tree Hill. Where did they go?"
As for the individual songs:
Zoo Station (7/10): I love the intro, but I don't feel the rest of the song lives up to it. Musically, it starts interesting and turns into a plod. Lyrically, it's the opposite; the repetitiveness of parts irk me (Bono, we get the point, you're ready), but it improves and has some good lines.
EBTTRT (5/10): I honestly find the intro catchy, and I like the "we're free to fly" verse. I'd like to believe that it has a deep lyrical meaning, but it just registers as too shallow on the whole. I don't like shallow music.
One (1/10): I think I've articulated my position on this sufficiently earlier in this thread.
UTEOTW (8/10): Poor UTEOTW. It is such a great song, a rocking beast and a U2 classic in every sense, but its studio production tries to suck to the life out of it, especially its conclusion. Thank goodness that its greatness manages to shine through nonetheless. I love its lyrical basis; a great take on the Gospels by Bono.
WGRYWH (4/10): I quite enjoyed this song live, but it doesn't really do it for me in the studio. Some of the lyrics are really dreadful too.
So Cruel (2/10): Poor, unfortunate So Cruel! It has some amazing lyrics, some of the best Bono has ever written, but it is musically terrible. It puts me to sleep. And the mixing just makes it worse.
The Fly (10/10): Now we're talking. This rocks my face off and has some exceptional lyrics. Way to go, U2.
Mysterious Ways (5/10): I wish the studio version were more like the live version. I appreciate the deeper meaning of the lyrics and how Bono makes them work effectively on multiple levels, but this song really suffers from poor mixing.
TTTYAATW (0/10): A boring plod. There is little redeeming about this song besides a couple of humorous lines. It never should have been on an album. It would be a pretty sucky b-side even.
Ultra Violet (0/10): Baby, baby, baby, fuckin' go away.
Acrobat (10/10): GENIUS. This is the best song on the album, and in my top eight U2 songs of all time (some Achtung hater I am!). Everything about this song works on every level. I'm not sure I can even fully articulate my opinion about Acrobat; it's just so good. I wish the rest of the album were this good! A diamond in the rough.
Love Is Blindness (10/10): An exceptional closer. I love this song a lot, for its emotional depth and political interpretation, the power of its mournful solo, and its haunting atmosphere. Why couldn't the rest of the album have an atmosphere like this and Alex Descends Into Hell? It'd be a dark masterpiece then.
And I guess that's about it really. Hopefully I won't get slagged off.