Next SMASHING PUMPKINS Album Could Be Their Last

According to The Pulse Of Radio, SMASHING PUMPKINS frontman and sole original member Billy Corgan told Billboard this week that he put too much confidence in releasing his band's music directly through the Internet, which has led him to return to a traditional album format with "Oceania", the group's ninth studio effort. Corgan told The Pulse Of Radio that the success of "Oceania" when it is released later this fall could determine the future of the PUMPKINS. "If we're able to get that sense that something's happening again and get people to rally behind us a bit, I think then the next three, four years will be very, very interesting for the band," he said. "I think if it basically hits the same wall a lot of other things has hit, I think we're just going to have to step back and really re-evaluate where we're going, because it's a tremendous amount of energy to put out to just feel like you're throwing a pebble in the ocean."

For the past couple of years, the PUMPKINS have been releasing songs in small batches or one by one, as part of the larger, 44-track "Teargarden By Kaleidyscope" project.

Asked why he's returning to a traditional album with "Oceania" after releasing songs online, Corgan told Billboard, "I just saw we weren't getting the penetration in to everybody that I would have hoped. I mean, we have 1.3 million followers on our Facebook page, right? So you think you put a song up and 1.3 million people are going to see it, but only if they're looking at the exact moment it goes up . . . So I thought, 'What do I need to do?' and then I thought, 'OK, I'll go back to making an album.'"

The last full PUMPKINS album was 2007's "Zeitgeist", which followed a seven-year break and featured an almost all-new band lineup.

"Oceania" is expected to arrive in November, with the PUMPKINS singer/guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist Jeff Schroeder, drummer Mike Byrne and bassist Nicole Fiorentino beginning a 12-date U.S. tour on October 5 in Los Angeles.