Billy Corgan Praises Taylor Swift and Defends Length of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

The Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman, Billy Corgan, recently expressed his admiration for Taylor Swift and defended the extensive length of her latest album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. In a conversation with the Irish Times, Corgan discussed the criticism surrounding lengthy albums and why he finds it baffling.

Corgan, whose band released a 33-track album titled ‘ATUM’ in three parts, sympathized with Swift’s situation.

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He continued, praising Swift’s prolific output: “Taylor Swift is one of the most gifted pop artists of all time. How is it a bad thing that she’s releasing more music? I can’t follow that… You can go on Spotify and just skip it.”

Corgan also reflected on the backlash he received for the length of ‘ATUM’: “People complained about the length of my last album, ‘ATUM’. I thought, ‘Well, just go make your playlist.’ Just listen to the record one time – rag over the six or 10 songs you like and make your record. Why is this such a strange concept? Have some sense of proportionality. This hyperbolic thing – ‘They ruined Star Wars. My God, this is all too much for me to process’ – it’s all a bit childish.”

While ‘ATUM’ spans 33 songs or 43 with the 10 additional exclusive tracks available in the limited edition box set, Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ features 31 songs in a single release. Initially, Swift released the first 16 tracks before revealing, hours later, that it was a double album with an additional 15 songs. The album is now available digitally as a single release with all 31 tracks.

-Gayathri J