April 11, 2005 11:11

VAULT-SHAPED BOX

They're locked in a vault with The Beach Boys and Public Enemy...

Photo Gallery: Nirvana
Photo: Pa Photos

NIRVANA have been given the approval of US academics by being put in a special archive to be preserved for future generations.

The grunge trio’s seminal ‘Nevermind’ joins works by Beach Boys, Public Enemy and James Brown in the US Library Of Congress’ vault.

According to the BBC, the 50 recordings have been deemed “culturally, historically or aethestically significant.”

Recordings must be at least ten years old. ‘Nevermind’, which was released in 1991, and is the most recent. The oldest is bass singer Eugene Cowles’ 1898 recording of ‘Gypsy Love Song’ from the opera ‘The Fortune Teller’.

Other material includes Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds’, the Star Wars soundtrack and spoken word recordings of Neil Armstrong’s moon landing and the first full reading of the Bible.

Librarian of Congress James H Billington said: “Once again, we have the opportunity to celebrate the rich variety of music recorded in the United States and the importance of sound recording on our lives.”