Best Albums of the 1940s

« View best albums of the 1930sView best albums of the 1950s »

Listed below are the best albums of the 1940s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 54,000 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	72	1,704	Dust Bowl Ballads - Volume 1 (3,836th)by Woody Guthrie
1941	76	1,320	The Midnight Special (And Other ... (4,667th)by Lead Belly
1942	77	803	Her Second Album Of Piano Solos ... (8,722nd)by Hazel Scott
1943	78	543	Songs By Lead Belly: Accompanied... (9,531st)by Lead Belly
1944	78	1,190	An Album Of Outstanding Arrangem... (5,448th)by Glenn Miller
1945	81	1,101	Merry Christmas (5,531st)by Bing Crosby
1946	105	1,779	The Voice Of Frank Sinatra (6,821st)by Frank Sinatra
1947	108	1,670	Teddy Wilson - Billie Holiday (5,271st)by Teddy Wilson And His Orchestra F...
1948	106	1,390	Chansons Des Cafés De Paris (6,460th)by Édith Piaf
1949	111	1,911	Bird Blows The Blues (6,620th)by Charlie Parker
Total	892	13,411

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

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 315)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

Dust Bowl Ballads - Volume 1

Woody Guthrie

Year of Release:

1940

Appears in:

40 charts

Rank Score:

378

Rank in 1940:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

3,838

Average Rating:

74 (38 votes)

Comments:

Dust Bowl Ballads - Volume 2

Woody Guthrie

Year of Release:

1940

Appears in:

31 charts

Rank Score:

333

Rank in 1940:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

4,263

Average Rating:

72 (31 votes)

Comments:

The Midnight Special (And Other Southern Prison Songs)

Lead Belly

Year of Release:

1941

Appears in:

31 charts

Rank Score:

298

Rank in 1941:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

4,667

Average Rating:

74 (26 votes)

Comments:

Teddy Wilson - Billie Holiday

Teddy Wilson And His Orchestra Featuring Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1947

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

255

Rank in 1947:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

5,271

Average Rating:

73 (17 votes)

Comments:

An Album Of Outstanding Arrangements

Glenn Miller

Year of Release:

1944

Appears in:

31 charts

Rank Score:

245

Rank in 1944:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1945

Appears in:

34 charts

Rank Score:

241

Rank in 1945:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

5,531

Average Rating:

72 (53 votes)

Comments:

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1947

Appears in:

19 charts

Rank Score:

233

Rank in 1947:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

5,688

Average Rating:

74 (19 votes)

Comments:

Chansons Des Cafés De Paris

Édith Piaf

Year of Release:

1948

Appears in:

53 charts

Rank Score:

201

Rank in 1948:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

6,460

Average Rating:

72 (53 votes)

Comments:

Bird Blows The Blues
Compilation

Charlie Parker

Year of Release:

1949

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

194

Rank in 1949:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

6,620

Average Rating:

74 (18 votes)

Comments:

10.

The King Cole Trio

Year of Release:

1944

Appears in:

19 charts

Rank Score:

190

Rank in 1944:

Rank in 1940s:

Overall Rank:

6,744

Average Rating:

71 (20 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
4
...
31
32
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 315. Page 1 of 32

Best Albums of the 1940s composition

Year	Albums	%

1940	29	3%
1941	30	3%
1942	24	2%
1943	23	2%
1944	24	2%
1945	25	3%
1946	37	4%
1947	40	4%
1948	39	4%
1949	44	4%

Artist	Albums	%

Various Artists	11	3%
Josh White	7	2%
The Original Broadway Cast	6	2%
Sir Thomas Beecham / The London Philharmonic Orchestra	6	2%
Almanac Singers	5	2%
Frank Sinatra	5	2%
Woody Guthrie	5	2%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	244	77%
	22	7%
	12	4%
	7	2%
	6	2%
	5	2%
	2	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	298	95%
Yes	17	5%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	309	98%
Yes	6	2%

« View best albums of the 1930sView best albums of the 1950s »

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Best Artists of 1991
1. Nirvana
2. My Bloody Valentine
3. Pearl Jam
4. Slint
5. U2
6. A Tribe Called Quest
7. Talk Talk
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers
9. Metallica
10. Massive Attack
11. Primal Scream
12. R.E.M.
13. Guns N' Roses
14. Soundgarden
15. Pixies
16. Michael Jackson
17. Temple Of The Dog
18. Mercury Rev
19. Queen
20. The Smashing Pumpkins