The release of a highly anticipated album by a major artist is cause for celebration in these parts. And those album drops typically result in a countdown of my favorite tracks (as with Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter last month) or even a song-by-song dissection (as with Lana Del Rey’s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd last year).

Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, has been a trickier prospect. For one thing, the album — after the surprise 2 a.m. drop of its unpublicized second half — features 31 tracks and runs for more than two hours. And while I’m not categorically opposed to turning a month and a half over to one album, I don’t relish the idea either.

And then there’s the fact that, like many critics and a whole lot of fans, I’m not crazy about this album. It sits at the bottom of my personal Taylor Swift ranking, with little prospect of moving up because the rest of her catalog is quite strong and I don’t have the patience or the desire to spend a lot more time with this one.

I’ve always felt that Swift’s albums would be improved by dropping a few songs. Even my very favorites — Lover, folklore, 1989 — would benefit from some trimming. The Tortured Poets Department takes that to a whole other level. There’s no question that this album would be better at half its length.

Of course, as I write this Swift has just rewritten the record books again. The album debuted at #1, giving her her 12th chart-topper, the most for any woman and tied for second (with Drake) among solo artists. She also took over the Hot 100, placing songs in slots one through 14, with the other 17 tracks also making the chart.

I suspect the desire to pad those stats is one reason Swift releases such a glut of material. Another is to sell twice as many CDs and vinyl records. In addition to a talented artist, she is a consummate capitalist. And sometimes the art suffers so the commerce can thrive.

While I’m generally disappointed with Tortured Poets, I do believe a great Taylor Swift album is embedded inside it. And my project over the next two weeks is to unearth the diamond within.

That means a new title, a new track order, and considerably fewer songs. Twelve, to be exact. Stay tuned for The Tortured Poets Department – Clay’s Version.

First up, I’m giving the album a new title, in part because I’m scrapping the former title song (sorry, Charlie Puth). I also want to stick with Taylor’s almost perfect streak of one-word titles (before Tortured Poets, her self-titled debut and 2010’s Speak Now were the only exceptions).

My new version of the album is titled Asylum. It’s a word that comes from one of the album’s more compelling lyrics, and I like how its double meaning can apply to the experiences Swift chronicles on these songs.

Taylor Swift’s Asylum
Track #1: ‘The Bolter’

I like this one as an opener because it introduces the main character of an album that finds Swift returning to songs about loves found, lost, and left behind. The line “there’s escape in escaping” had me considering one of those words as the album title, as it’s another theme I find threaded through these songs.

I enjoy the throwback musical vibes of ‘The Bolter,’ with its acoustic guitar reaching back to the Speak Now and Red days.