Best Albums of the 1950s

Listed below are the best albums of the 1950s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 52,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade
Decade:
Year:
1950s decade summary
YearAlbums 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.
19501225,220
19511394,203
19521506,809
19531936,480
195422911,258
195532114,892
195643232,543
195756245,578
195856341,364
195960882,492
Total3,319250,839

The best artists of the 1950s were Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Frank Sinatra, Charles Mingus, Elvis Presley, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Billie Holiday and John Coltrane.
View chart at point in time
 Show this chart as it was on the following date
Share this chart
Share | |
Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!
Sort by
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,122
Rank in 1959:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,959
Rank in 1956:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,928
Rank in 1957:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,882
Rank in 1958:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,734
Rank in 1957:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,726
Rank in 1957:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1954
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,694
Rank in 1954:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,487
Rank in 1958:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,457
Rank in 1957:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,400
Rank in 1959:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year Albums %


1950 39 4%
1951 40 4%
1952 59 6%
1953 62 6%
1954 77 8%
1955 86 9%
1956 117 12%
1957 152 15%
1958 173 17%
1959 195 20%
Country Albums %


United States 780 78%
Mixed Nationality 39 4%
France 31 3%
United Kingdom 27 3%
Brazil 21 2%
Canada 12 1%
Austria 10 1%
Show all
Compilation? Albums %
No 943 94%
Yes 57 6%
Live? Albums %
No 963 96%
Yes 37 4%
Soundtrack? Albums %
No 978 98%
Yes 22 2%
Recognised  Decade Charts (2020s)
1. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks by Billboard (2019)
2. NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s by New Music Express (2019)
3. Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of the 2010s by Gorilla vs. Bear (2019)
4. The 50 best albums of the decade – 2010 to 2019 by Independent (2019)
5. BrooklynVegan's Top Albums of 2010s by BrooklynVegan (2020)
6. The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
7. All The Best Albums Of The 2010s, Ranked by Uproxx (2019)
8. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2019)
9. Top 100 Albums of the Decade by Crack Magazine (2019)
10. The Needle Drop's Top Albums Of The 2010s by The Needle Drop (2019)
11. The A.V. Club's 50 best albums of the 2010s by The A.V. Club (2019)
12. Top 50 Albums of the 2010s by The Wild Honey Pie (2019)
13. The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s by Stereogum (2019)
14. The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s by Spin (2020)
15. The 50 Best Albums of the Decade by Deep Cuts (2019)
16. BEST OF 2011 - 2020: Die besten Alben des Jahrzehnts by laut (2020)
17. Die besten Platten 2010-2019 by Spex (2019)
18. Die 100 besten Alben der 10er Jahre by Musikexpress.de (2020)
19. Top 100 Albums of the 2010s by Consequence of Sound (2019)
20. The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Paste (2019)
Back to Top