Sorry, I cannot boil it down to one thing (I did try). For me there is a list:
1. As Harsh Truth has said, the cover artwork is atrocious
2. Some of the lyrics are really terrible. Take In Your Lap, for instance: "The security force is always the worst...They live to kill and they love just to harm" What was once so special about Morrissey's lyrics was not just the witty words but how they worked with the music. Tony Wilson had it right when he said there was something unique about how Morrissey placed his syllables. He had a knack of picking, and placing, words that sparked against the rhythms and melodies. They were alive somehow - these are flat and clumsy. Having said that... there are still a few moments of genuine poetry. "I rescued you in so many ways/You're good for a laugh, that's all you can say/Summer is winter and winter prevails/And I'm so tired of counting the days" - just lovely, and an intriguing story within a story.
3. Two of the songs are completely, unlistenably bad (I Bury the Living, Who Will Protect us From the Police)
4. Two of the songs are tiresome dirges (I Wish You Lonely, Home is a Question Mark)
5. Two of the songs are tuneless, shouty thrashes (My Love... , Jacky)
4. The politics are embarrassing
5. The random trumpets and flamenco flourishes are just annoying and smack of desperation to create something interesting
6. All the Young People, which starts quite brilliantly, just peters out as it appears he couldn't be bothered to write any more. And as others have said, why they have put the piano so far back in the mix - which might have (partially) rescued it - is a mystery.
7. His obsession with the Middle East is not helping his ham-fisted lyrics or his search for decent melodies
8. His obsession with oral sex makes me queasy
Apart from that, I quite like it