On deluxe cd packaging that reproduces the original cross–shape LP jacket, soul superstar Isaac Hayes personifies the title of his 1971 opus, with robe–clad arms outstretched. Inside, a brokenhearted man mourns a collapsed marriage across two discs that seem to spin in slow motion as Hayes flexes masculine strength through vulnerability. His radically extended arrangements rewrite pop and soul hits like the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You" into documents of doomed obsession by dropping tempo and escalating the drama. Burt Bacharach never again sounded so black.