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 46,000 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	110	4,449	The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Ja... (2,339th)by Benny Goodman
1951	124	3,822	Genius Of Modern Music: Volume 1 (2,803rd)by Thelonious Monk
1952	146	6,955	Bird & Diz (2,023rd)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	181	5,334	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (2,030th)by Peggy Lee
1954	211	10,317	Chet Baker Sings (952nd)by Chet Baker
1955	288	12,912	In The Wee Small Hours (400th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	392	29,375	Elvis Presley (398th)by Elvis Presley
1957	507	43,849	Blue Train (346th)by John Coltrane
1958	501	38,409	Lady In Satin (626th)by Billie Holiday
1959	533	82,380	Kind Of Blue (40th)by Miles Davis
Total	2,993	237,803

The best artists of the 1950s were Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Frank Sinatra, Charles Mingus, Elvis Presley, Art Blakey, Buddy Holly, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane.

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Kind Of Blue

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

1,479 charts

Rank Score:

30,114

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (2,027 votes)

Comments:

148

Mingus Ah Um

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

564 charts

Rank Score:

7,891

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

252

Average Rating:

84 (627 votes)

Comments:

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

574 charts

Rank Score:

6,917

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

497 charts

Rank Score:

5,783

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

346

Average Rating:

84 (573 votes)

Comments:

Elvis Presley

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

505 charts

Rank Score:

5,019

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

396

Average Rating:

80 (680 votes)

Comments:

In The Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatra

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

413 charts

Rank Score:

4,926

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

400

Average Rating:

80 (565 votes)

Comments:

The Shape Of Jazz To Come

Ornette Coleman

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

369 charts

Rank Score:

4,357

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

452

Average Rating:

82 (435 votes)

Comments:

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

355 charts

Rank Score:

3,837

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

506

Average Rating:

79 (425 votes)

Comments:

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

320 charts

Rank Score:

3,380

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

569

Average Rating:

83 (302 votes)

Comments:

10.

Lady In Satin

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

313 charts

Rank Score:

3,061

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

626

Average Rating:

80 (320 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	44	4%
1951	44	4%
1952	54	5%
1953	59	6%
1954	77	8%
1955	88	9%
1956	120	12%
1957	154	15%
1958	172	17%
1959	188	19%

Artist	Albums	%

Billie Holiday	18	2%
Various Artists	18	2%
Frank Sinatra	17	2%
Sonny Rollins	15	2%
Miles Davis	15	2%
Ella Fitzgerald	12	1%
Sarah Vaughan	12	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	772	77%
	37	4%
	31	3%
	29	3%
	28	3%
	12	1%
	9	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	945	95%
Yes	55	6%

Live?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	32	3%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	986	99%
Yes	14	1%

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

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