Nirvana back catalogue set for vinyl re-release

The bulk of Nirvana's back catalogue is to be made available on high-fidelity vinyl for the first time.

US company Original Recordings Group (ORG) has announced plans to re-release Nirvana's era-defining albums 'Nevermind', 'In Utero' and 'MTV Unplugged' on 180-gram, audiophile quality vinyl.

All three releases are set to come out in 2009, and the deal will see each album remastered, reports Billboard.

Speaking of the re-releases, ORG founder (and senior vice president of Universal Music Publishing Group/Interscope Records) Monti Olsen said that the vinyl version of 'MTV Unplugged' is particularly noteworthy.

"To our knowledge this is the first time 'Unplugged' has ever come out on vinyl," he said. "They might have done a limited promotional thing but I doubt it."

Olsen is set to formally announce the releases today (March 21) at South By Southwest festival.

He also revealed that ORG is planning to release more iconic rock albums on 180-gram vinyl.

"We're going to be releasing a lot of classic alternative music from the '80s and '90s on 180-gram vinyl. Stuff that's more obscure and more popular. We're in negotiation with quite a few of those artists," he said.

Meanwhile, the label that first signed Nirvana (Sup Pop) is in the process of manufacturing a vinyl re-release the band's debut album 'Bleach'.