Red Mecca
Red Mecca is the third studio album by English band Cabaret Voltaire. It was released in September 1981, through record label Rough Trade. Background. While touring the United States in November 1979, Cabaret Voltaire became strongly interested in the rise of the Christian right and its use of television, especially the fund-raising broadcasts of TV evangelist Eugene Scott. They compared this to the rise of Islamism, devoting a side to each strand of religious politics on their 1980 mini-album "Three Mantras". "Red Mecca" was a culmination of this interest. According to Richard H. Kirk: "The whole  Afghanistan situation was kicking off, Iran had the American hostages [...] we were taking notice [...] it's not called ["Red Mecca"] by coincidence. We weren't referencing the fucking Mecca Ballroom in Nottingham!" "Red Mecca" was recorded at Western Works, Sheffield in May 1981. Release. "Red Mecca" reached No. 1 on the UK Independent Albums chart. Critical reception. "NME" named "Red Mecca" the ninth best album of 1981. Andy Kellman of AllMusic retrospectively praised the album, writing, "Unlike a fair portion of CV's studio output, "Red Mecca" features no failed experiments or anything that could be merely cast off as  'interesting.' It's a taught , dense, horrific slab lacking a lull." "Uncut" cited "Red Mecca" as Cabaret Voltaire's "masterpiece", where the band "struck the perfect balance between experimentalism and entryism". "Record Collector"s Ian Shirley called it "a seismic release" and noted "its timeless sheen, with the Cabs' use of echo, space and phasing lending depth and vibrancy to the album." In 2019, "Pitchfork" ranked "Red Mecca" as the fourth best industrial album of all time.