Smashing Pumpkins’ Future Hangs in Balance With ‘Oceania?’

Smashing Pumpkins are gearing up to release an album titled "Oceania,' and the success of the disc -- or lack thereof -- could help plot out the band's status for the foreseeable future.

If things go right and the album is well received, the Pumpkins could continue on as is. If not, we ... it may be time for frontman Billy Corgan to makes some changes.

"If we're able to get that sense that something is happening again and get people to rally behind us a bit, I think the next three, four years will be very interesting for the band," Corgan tells Billboard.com.

He continues, "I think if ['Oceania'] basically hits the same wall a lot of the other stuff has hit, we're going to have to step back and really 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."

'Oceania' was originally due out early next year, but it may surface sooner. Corgan calls the disc "probably the most open-sounding album I've ever made" and says it may be "available to be heard in November, but we don't know that yet for sure."

Expect the Pumpkins to preview some of the tunes from 'Oceania' on their upcoming fall 2011 U.S. tour, which kicks off Oct. 5 in Los Angeles and is scheduled through an Oct. 22 gig in Philadelphia.