I only really got into Lemar's music a couple of years ago, having waited for him to find his own identity first. I'm glad that this album is arranged chronologically because it means the CD gets better from first track to last. For me, the album starts at Track 5 - 'If There's Any Justice'.
This is a grest collection of songs from his career, which feels like an introduction to his back catalogue, as if he's planning a bit of a reinvention. There are a couple of tracks that weren't singles, which perhaps suggests that this CD is a few years early, and the last four tracks are new ones (including an intresting sample of 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' by Diana Ross & the Supremes), three of which have a more disco, dancy feel to them, which certinately supports the 'reinvention' theme. I think theis albums marks a chapter rather than being a more generic 'Hits' album.
Listening to this CD made me want to listen to the other Lemar CDs I have, which I promptly did, so if anything we didn't really need this album. For this, I gave it three stars, as I found that listening to this more than once actually annoyed me. The exception to this, which I think saves it and justifies a fourth star, are the final four tracks; we want something new! But if these appear on another forecoming CD, then 'The Hits' will soon find its way onto an internet auction website.
A good CD for now, to wet your appetite until the next album, but not much to get overly excited about.