Billy Corgan praises Taylor Swift, defends length of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
The Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan has praised Taylor Swift and defended the length of her latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ – see what he had to say about the pop star below.
Speaking to the Irish Times, Corgan spoke about people complaining about artists releasing long albums – something he’s baffled by. It’s something he’s faced himself, with the Smashing Pumpkins’ latest album ‘ATUM’, which released in three parts with a total of 33 songs.
Corgan said, sympathising with Taylor and mentioning Sinéad O’Connor: “Now that Sinéad’s gone, would it be a bad thing if somebody turned up tomorrow and said, ‘Hey, I just found this tape, and there’s enough for 20 – or 30 or 50 – Sinéad songs.’ Would that be a bad thing?”
He then addressed Taylor Swift: “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 then reflected on the criticism he’s faced for ‘ATUM’: “People complained about the length of my last album, ‘ATUM’. I thought, ‘Well, just go make your own playlist.’ Just listen to the record one time – rag over the six or 10 songs you like and make your own 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’ consisted 33 songs – 43 if you count the 10 additional exclusive songs that were made available on the record’s limited edition boxset – across three entries, Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ clocks in at 31 songs released in a single offering. She had initially the first 16 tracks when the album dropped before revealing just hours later that it was a double album and released an additional 15 songs. The album is now technically available on digital as a single release with all 31 songs.
‘ATUM’ scored a four-star review, with Damian Jones writing for NME: “As albums go, ‘ATUM’ is an ambitious body of work and does ask a lot of its audience. But there’s also plenty on here to please any diehard Pumpkins fan.”
Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets’ album scored a three-star review, with Laura Molloy writing for NME: “The pitfalls that mire her 11th studio album are all the more disappointing — she’s proven time and time again she can do better. To a Melbourne audience of her Eras Tour, Swift said that ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ came from a “need” to write. It’s just that maybe we didn’t need to hear it.”
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Surej Singh
NME
