"Skimpy" is a word that immediately comes to mind to describe the soundtrack album for the Dana Carvey comedy The Master of Disguise, assembled by the redundantly named Music World Music label run by
Mathew Knowles, the mastermind behind
Destiny's Child and, not coincidentally, father of the group's lead singer,
Beyoncé Knowles (and of her younger sister, up and coming singer Solange Knowles, who gets a song on the disc). The album of 11 songs runs under 38 and a half minutes, and even then it is padded out with two versions of the theme song ("M.A.S.T.E.R."), two songs not heard in the film ("Eenie Meenie Minie Moe" and "Cherry Pie"), and an old recording of "Conga" by
Miami Sound Machine. What new soundtrack music there is includes an OK pop song by
Destiny's Child ("Happy Face"), drastic rearrangements of a couple of old hits ("Walking on Sunshine" and "Double Dutch Bus"), and an entertaining alternate theme song, "Master of Disguise" (which recalls "Secret Agent Man" and the James Bond theme). Still, that's not much for the money, even if the target audience will be expecting their parents to buy the album for them. ~ William Ruhlmann