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Best Albums of the 1950s

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

Listed below are the greatest albums of the 1950s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 29,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade
View by decade:1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s
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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.
1950533,281 The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Ja... (2,781st)
by Benny Goodman
1951642,503 Hank Williams Sings (3,250th)
by Hank Williams With His Drifting ...
1952734,371 Anthology Of American Folk Music (2,460th)
by Various Artists
1953794,238 Black Coffee (2,278th)
by Peggy Lee
1954857,189 Chet Baker Sings (1,287th)
by Chet Baker
195512310,002 In The Wee Small Hours (446th)
by Frank Sinatra
195619928,494 Elvis Presley (415th)
by Elvis Presley
195726232,897 Blue Train (439th)
by John Coltrane
195828427,130 Lady In Satin (751st)
by Billie Holiday
195929786,999 Kind Of Blue (37th)
by Miles Davis
Total1,519207,104

The best artists of the 1950s were Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Frank Sinatra, Charles Mingus, Elvis Presley, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, John Coltrane, Buddy Holly, Art Blakey and Billie Holiday.
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Sort byOverall Rank | Number of Charts | Average Rating | Number of Ratings | Release Date | Title | Artist
RankAlbumArtist
1.

Kind Of BlueUnited States Miles Davis
Year of Release:1959Appears in:1,139 charts
Rank in 1959:1Rank Score:43,790
Rank in 1950s1Overall Rank:37
Average Rating: Top rated 89/100 (1,510 votes)
Comments: 104 comments
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2.

Mingus Ah UmUnited States Charles Mingus
Year of Release:1959Appears in:400 charts
Rank in 1959:2Rank Score:8,172
Rank in 1950s2Overall Rank:303
Average Rating:  84/100 (426 votes)
Comments: 23 comments
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3.

Time OutUnited States The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Year of Release:1959Appears in:381 charts
Rank in 1959:3Rank Score:6,456
Rank in 1950s3Overall Rank:365
Average Rating:  84/100 (416 votes)
Comments: 19 comments
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4.

Elvis PresleyUnited States Elvis Presley
Year of Release:1956Appears in:346 charts
Rank in 1956:1Rank Score:5,642
Rank in 1950s4Overall Rank:416
Average Rating:  80/100 (485 votes)
Comments: 21 comments
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5.

Blue TrainUnited States John Coltrane
Year of Release:1957Appears in:333 charts
Rank in 1957:1Rank Score:5,330
Rank in 1950s5Overall Rank:439
Average Rating:  84/100 (391 votes)
Comments: 12 comments
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6.

In The Wee Small HoursUnited States Frank Sinatra
Year of Release:1955Appears in:283 charts
Rank in 1955:1Rank Score:5,238
Rank in 1950s6Overall Rank:446
Average Rating:  80/100 (392 votes)
Comments: 24 comments
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7.

The Shape Of Jazz To ComeUnited States Ornette Coleman
Year of Release:1959Appears in:279 charts
Rank in 1959:4Rank Score:4,638
Rank in 1950s7Overall Rank:496
Average Rating:  82/100 (312 votes)
Comments: 17 comments
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8.

Here's Little RichardUnited States Little Richard
Year of Release:1957Appears in:234 charts
Rank in 1957:2Rank Score:3,449
Rank in 1950s8Overall Rank:652
Average Rating:  78/100 (289 votes)
Comments: 21 comments
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9.

Lady In SatinUnited States Billie Holiday
Year of Release:1958Appears in:209 charts
Rank in 1958:1Rank Score:2,921
Rank in 1950s9Overall Rank:752
Average Rating:  80/100 (220 votes)
Comments: 13 comments
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10.

Saxophone ColossusUnited States Sonny Rollins
Year of Release:1956Appears in:206 charts
Rank in 1956:2Rank Score:2,839
Rank in 1950s10Overall Rank:775
Average Rating:  81/100 (219 votes)
Comments: 5 comments
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Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year Albums %


1950 34 3%
1951 42 4%
1952 42 4%
1953 49 5%
1954 67 7%
1955 85 9%
1956 121 12%
1957 178 18%
1958 183 18%
1959 199 20%
Artist Albums %


Various Artists 22 2%
Miles Davis 17 2%
Frank Sinatra 16 2%
Billie Holiday 15 2%
Sonny Rollins 14 1%
Ella Fitzgerald 13 1%
Sarah Vaughan 12 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 825 83%
Mixed Nationality 42 4%
France 24 2%
Canada 18 2%
United Kingdom 13 1%
Brazil 13 1%
Germany 6 1%
Show all

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