Adelitas Way

Home School Valedictorian, the sophomore CD from Las Vegas quartet Adelitas Way, earns an "A" for execution, even managing to top the band's forcefully compelling 2009 self-titled debut and its chart-topping single "Invincible." On Home School Valedictorian, Philly-born singer/songwriter Rick DeJesus pens lyrics that are full of relatable pain and pathos in songs like memorably intense rockers "Sick," and "The Collapse," rife with heavy, edgy, melodic musicality, creating modern hard rock at once both eloquent and primal.