Best Albums of the 1950s

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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	125	5,244	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,081st)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,185	Genius Of Modern Music (2,814th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	151	6,927	Bird & Diz (1,988th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	194	6,685	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,847th)by Peggy Lee
1954	230	11,108	Chet Baker Sings (671st)by Chet Baker
1955	327	14,821	In The Wee Small Hours (382nd)by Frank Sinatra
1956	435	32,211	Elvis Presley (366th)by Elvis Presley
1957	568	45,284	Blue Train (309th)by John Coltrane
1958	570	41,340	Lady In Satin (558th)by Billie Holiday
1959	615	81,370	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,356	249,175

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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Collector's summary (top 117) (filtered)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

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961.

Moby Dick (Music From The Sound Track)
Soundtrack

Philip Sainton

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

3 charts

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963.

4, 5, And 6

Jackie McLean

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

7 charts

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965.

The Jazz Giants '56

Lester Young

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

5 charts

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973.

Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Suite; Waldteufel: The Skaters Waltz; Rossini: William Tell

Arturo Toscanini / NBC Symphony Orchestra

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

7 charts

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974.

Cab Calloway

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

6 charts

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981.

Jazz Giant

Bud Powell

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

7 charts

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997.

Encontro Com Ary

Ary Barroso

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

2 charts

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Total albums: 117. Page 12 of 12

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	41	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	58	6%
1953	62	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	85	9%
1956	117	12%
1957	150	15%
1958	174	17%
1959	197	20%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	778	78%
	39	4%
	32	3%
	26	3%
	21	2%
	13	1%
	11	1%
Show all

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

Live?	Albums	%
No	962	96%
Yes	38	4%

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

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