Best Albums of the 1950s

« View best albums of the 1940sView best albums of the 1960s »

Listed below are the best albums of the 1950s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1950s 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.
1950	122	5,215	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,057th)by Yma Sumac
1951	140	4,224	Genius Of Modern Music (2,770th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	150	6,851	Bird & Diz (1,986th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	193	6,437	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,854th)by Peggy Lee
1954	229	11,152	Chet Baker Sings (674th)by Chet Baker
1955	322	14,877	In The Wee Small Hours (381st)by Frank Sinatra
1956	434	32,556	Elvis Presley (365th)by Elvis Presley
1957	564	45,411	Blue Train (300th)by John Coltrane
1958	564	41,282	Lady In Satin (567th)by Billie Holiday
1959	608	82,110	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,326	250,114

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.

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41.

Sarah Vaughan

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

156 charts

Rank Score:

945

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,788

Average Rating:

78 (140 votes)

Comments:

42.

N° 4

Jacques Brel

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

95 charts

Rank Score:

935

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,802

Average Rating:

75 (84 votes)

Comments:

43.

Black Coffee With Peggy Lee

Peggy Lee

Year of Release:

1953

Appears in:

133 charts

Rank Score:

902

Rank in 1953:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,854

Average Rating:

74 (110 votes)

Comments:

44.

Basie

Count Basie And His Orchestra & Neal Hefti

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

168 charts

Rank Score:

896

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,862

Average Rating:

77 (153 votes)

Comments:

45.

The Everly Brothers

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

130 charts

Rank Score:

886

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,889

Average Rating:

75 (89 votes)

Comments:

46.

Jerry Lee Lewis

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

143 charts

Rank Score:

864

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,931

Average Rating:

73 (93 votes)

Comments:

47.

One Dozen Berrys

Chuck Berry

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

141 charts

Rank Score:

855

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,951

Average Rating:

75 (107 votes)

Comments:

48.

J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations

Glenn Gould

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

97 charts

Rank Score:

846

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,971

Average Rating:

81 (108 votes)

Comments:

49.

Bird & Diz

Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

130 charts

Rank Score:

839

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,987

Average Rating:

77 (115 votes)

Comments:

50.

Clifford Brown And Max Roach

Clifford Brown & Max Roach

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

120 charts

Rank Score:

830

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,003

Average Rating:

80 (109 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 5 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	58	6%
1953	61	6%
1954	75	8%
1955	86	9%
1956	118	12%
1957	152	15%
1958	175	18%
1959	195	20%

Artist	Albums	%

Billie Holiday	18	2%
Various Artists	17	2%
Miles Davis	16	2%
Sonny Rollins	15	2%
Frank Sinatra	15	2%
Ella Fitzgerald	13	1%
Sarah Vaughan	11	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	780	78%
	38	4%
	31	3%
	27	3%
	21	2%
	12	1%
	10	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	943	94%
Yes	57	6%

Live?	Albums	%
No	963	96%
Yes	37	4%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

« View best albums of the 1940sView best albums of the 1960s »

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