An eclectic mix of seventies and eighties style Rock that occasionally veers off completely left field.

'How Much More?' by Ivory Tower Project is an eclectic mix of seventies and eighties style Rock that occasionally veers off completely left field. New York City-based Ivory Tower Project consists of Mark Regula on vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, and percussion, with Tony Novarro functioning as recording engineer, guitarist, backing vocalist and co-writer. The album is very aptly titled, as Ivory Tower Project have had more than their fair share of misfortune and heartbreak with original drummer Sal DiAngel passing away in 1983, lyricist Johnny Jace in 2009 and main-stay Regula surviving a serious car accident that left him barely able to walk and in chronic pain; Ivory Tower Project has obviously been cathartic for Regula.

The opener and title track 'How Much More?' references the band's previously mentioned tragedies and is the last contribution by Jace. It's one where the protagonists have literally thrown in everything including the kitchen sink, with elements of Classic Rock, Progressive Rock and AOR all contained within. The melancholic 'The Ides Of March (Et Tu Brute?)' is a seven minute plus epic that continues in a similar vein, a song that builds and is juxtaposed to the eighties Synth Pop of 'Gotcha'. The polished 'Ring Around Rosie' sees the album return to AOR territory although I personally find this song to be a tad bland.

Five of the songs first appeared on Ivory Tower Project's critically acclaimed and diverse debut album, 2008's 'Red Hot', and have been re-mixed. This collection consists of the aforementioned 'Gotcha', the excellent Melodic Rocker 'Way Too Late', the brilliant and funky 'Burning', the power ballad 'You Can See It In My Eyes' and 'My Name'.
Elsewhere, there is the Styx-like ballad 'Always', the Pop Rocker 'When Friends Become Lovers', the very classy AOR of 'Please Tell Me' (Novarro's tribute to his sadly departed friend DiAngel) and the quirky 'Surf Song' – a retro-sixties instrumental in the vein of Surfaris' 'Wipe Out'. Arguably the album's best-produced song is the high-tech eighties AOR of 'Woman Of The Times', a track originally recorded for the TV series 'Miami Vice' but never aired.

I personally believe that the album is a little diminished with the inclusion of the final two tracks, 'Le Dare Un Anillo a Rosi' (a Spanish version of '...Rosie') and an Electronica/Trance DJ Distortion Re-mix of '...Name' which is a far cry from the excellent American AOR that preceded it.

Mark Donnelly