Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins defends the length of “The Tortured Poets Department” “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?” The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan

The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan — himself no stranger to making long albums — thinks it’s silly to knock Taylor Swift for the length of her recently-released 31-track double album, The Tortured Poets Department.

Speaking to The Irish Times ahead of Smashing Pumpkins’ upcoming European Tour, Corgan discussed his enduring respect for the late Sinéad O’Connor as well as the fan backlash he received online when making the controversial pair of hard rock-centered 2000 albums, Machina and Machina II

Get Smashing Pumpkins Tickets Here

He then brought up Swift in reference to the online clamoring: “Let’s go back to Sinéad for a second. 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? 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.”

He continued, saying “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.”