Best Albums of the 1940s

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Listed below are the best albums of the 1940s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1940s decade summary

Year	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts.	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year)	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart.
1940	69	1,777	Dust Bowl Ballads - Volume 1 (3,735th)by Woody Guthrie
1941	75	1,330	The Midnight Special (And Other ... (4,441st)by Lead Belly
1942	75	755	Her Second Album Of Piano Solos ... (8,708th)by Hazel Scott
1943	76	582	Songs By Lead Belly: Accompanied... (9,705th)by Lead Belly
1944	76	1,295	An Album Of Outstanding Arrangem... (4,945th)by Glenn Miller
1945	79	1,090	Merry Christmas (5,351st)by Bing Crosby
1946	102	1,820	The Voice Of Frank Sinatra (6,602nd)by Frank Sinatra
1947	102	1,738	Teddy Wilson - Billie Holiday (5,184th)by Teddy Wilson And His Orchestra F...
1948	102	1,451	Chansons Des Cafés De Paris (5,882nd)by Édith Piaf
1949	104	1,980	Bird Blows The Blues (6,202nd)by Charlie Parker
Total	860	13,819

The best artists of the 1940s were Woody Guthrie, Nat King Cole, Lead Belly, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Josh White, Louis Jordan, The King Cole Trio, The Original Broadway Cast and Hazel Scott.

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Best Albums of the 1940s composition

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Popular Charts
1. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (2020)
2. 200 Greatest Albums of All Time by Uncut (2016)
3. The Top 100 Albums by VH1 (2001)
4. The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time by New Music Express (2013)
5. Top 100 Albums by ABC (2006)
6. The Definitive 200 by National Association of Recording Merchandisers (2007)
7. Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums by Virgin (2000)
8. The Greatest Rock Albums by uDiscoverMusic (2015)
9. Die 20 besten Alben der Geschichte by Musikexpress.de (2011)
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11. Die 100 besten Alben der Musikgeschichte by radioeins (2019)
12. Die 100 besten Platten des Jahrhunderts by Wiener (1999)
13. 100 Greatest Albums Ever by Q (2006)
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15. The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time by Consequence of Sound (2022)
16. The 100 Greatest Albums Of All Time by Absolute Radio (2012)
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