When Taylor Swift released her "anthology" version of The Tortured Poets Department, some fans complained that 31 tracks was just too long for an album. But one rock star who's famous for his own extremely long albums is coming to Taylor's defense.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins — a band whose 2023 album, Atum, ran 138 minutes and whose bestselling album Mellon Colie and The Infinite Sadness was two hours in length — says he doesn't understand why this is a problem.
Corgan used the late Sinéad O'Connor, who he knew and talked about earlier in the interview, as an example. "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 Sinéad songs,’" he asks. "Would that be a bad thing?"
"Taylor Swift is one of the most gifted pop artists of all time," he continues. "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 notes, “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 ... 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.”
Corgan is one of several iconic '90s rock stars who have praised Taylor: the list also includes Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Liam Gallagher of Oasis. On the anti-Taylor side are Liam's brother and former bandmate Noel Gallagher and, of course, Blur's Damon Albarn.