Billy Corgan has defended Taylor Swift's criticism of the length of 'The Tortured Poets Department'.
The Smashing Pumpkins frontman, whose latest album, ATUM, is a trilogy totalling 33 tracks, praised the 'Karma' hitmaker as “one of the most talented pop artists of all time” and admitted he doesn't understand why some people aren't happy that her latest album is a 31-track double album.
He told The Irish Times: “Taylor Swift is one of the most talented pop artists of all time. What's wrong with her releasing more music? I don't see it… Just go on Spotify and skip it.”
The “Today” hitmaker believes that the way music is released today, it's entirely possible for fans to make their own “playlists” of their favourite songs from one long album, and that people should stop complaining.
He adds: “People were complaining about the length of our last album, ATUM, so I thought, 'OK, I'll just make my own playlist.' Listen to the record once, pick six or ten songs you like and make your own record.”
“Why is this such a strange concept? Have some sense of proportion.”
“All this hyperbole — 'They ruined Star Wars. My God, I don't understand this' — is all a bit childish.”
The 57-year-old singer also referenced the late Sinead O'Connor, claiming that it would be “no bad thing” for all of her unreleased songs to be released as one package.
He said: “Now that Sinead has died, if someone came along tomorrow and said, 'Hey, I've found this tape and it's got 20 or 30 or 50 songs by Sinead', would that be a bad thing? Would that be a bad thing?”