So I've always hated both those songs--for the exact reason you like them--however I am listening to Ambitious Outsiders as I type and I might MIGHT just be finally coming around on it (Sorrow Will Come in the End still reminds me of Trent from Mystik Spiral).
That being said, what instrument or device was used to create the music? I know it sounds like (or is supposed to sound like) some kind of string or orchestra music, but it also sounds like it may have been produced with some sort of synthetic computer making music device for Windows 97. I know nothing about these kinds of things and have always been too terribly embarrassed to ask, but whatever it is it has always been what has been off-putting about Maladjusted to me (and to be fair the title track is one of my favorite Morrissey songs of all time. In spite of it its lackluster reputation, which I was obviously aware of, I went in knowing this, as well, so my mind was not poisoned from the start).
So who wants to answer my question and put years of speculation, silently internalized due to deep feelings of shame and personal inadequacy, to rest?