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 54,000 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	5,251	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,130th)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,219	Genius Of Modern Music (2,782nd)by Thelonious Monk
1952	153	6,990	Bird & Diz (1,949th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	196	6,735	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,815th)by Peggy Lee
1954	232	11,110	Chet Baker Sings (681st)by Chet Baker
1955	342	14,951	In The Wee Small Hours (379th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	452	32,504	Elvis Presley (354th)by Elvis Presley
1957	579	45,641	Blue Train (293rd)by John Coltrane
1958	594	41,390	Lady In Satin (557th)by Billie Holiday
1959	640	81,533	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,454	250,325

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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331.

Greatest!

Johnny Cash

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

23 charts

Rank Score:

100

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

331

Overall Rank:

11,638

Average Rating:

73 (23 votes)

Comments:

332.

Lover Man
Compilation

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1951

Appears in:

22 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1951:

Rank in 1950s:

332

Overall Rank:

11,734

Average Rating:

73 (19 votes)

Comments:

333.

J.S.Bach: Passio Secundum Matthaeum

Karl Richter

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

8 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

333

Overall Rank:

11,749

Average Rating:

75 (13 votes)

Comments:

334.

Rock & Roll

Ruth Brown

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

17 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

334

Overall Rank:

11,770

Average Rating:

73 (14 votes)

Comments:

335.

Les Paul's New Sound, Vol. 2

Les Paul & Mary Ford

Year of Release:

1951

Appears in:

27 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1951:

Rank in 1950s:

335

Overall Rank:

11,962

Average Rating:

72 (21 votes)

Comments:

336.

J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion
Live

Willem Mengelberg / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

336

Overall Rank:

11,966

Average Rating:

74 (4 votes)

Comments:

337.

Anita Sings The Most

Anita O'Day

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

24 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

337

Overall Rank:

11,978

Average Rating:

71 (35 votes)

Comments:

338.

Poetry For The Beat Generation

Jack Kerouac & Steve Allen

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

17 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

338

Overall Rank:

11,991

Average Rating:

73 (14 votes)

Comments:

339.

Jazz Portraits

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

25 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

339

Overall Rank:

12,024

Average Rating:

74 (21 votes)

Comments:

340.

The Country Blues Of John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

18 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

340

Overall Rank:

12,072

Average Rating:

74 (17 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 34 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	59	6%
1953	63	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	82	8%
1956	116	12%
1957	153	15%
1958	173	17%
1959	198	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	%

	776	78%
	37	4%
	34	3%
	27	3%
	19	2%
	13	1%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	942	94%
Yes	58	6%

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

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

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

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