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 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	5,233	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,089th)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,183	Genius Of Modern Music (2,810th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	151	6,933	Bird & Diz (1,991st)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	194	6,679	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,842nd)by Peggy Lee
1954	230	11,129	Chet Baker Sings (682nd)by Chet Baker
1955	330	14,864	In The Wee Small Hours (381st)by Frank Sinatra
1956	442	32,260	Elvis Presley (364th)by Elvis Presley
1957	573	45,326	Blue Train (308th)by John Coltrane
1958	573	41,323	Lady In Satin (560th)by Billie Holiday
1959	616	81,245	Kind Of Blue (38th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,375	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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11.

Lady In Satin

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

349 charts

Rank Score:

3,196

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

560

Average Rating:

80 (362 votes)

Comments:

33.

Lady Sings The Blues

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

187 charts

Rank Score:

1,357

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,289

Average Rating:

77 (166 votes)

Comments:

97.

Billie Holiday Sings

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

69 charts

Rank Score:

439

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

3,341

Average Rating:

75 (62 votes)

Comments:

101.

Songs For Distingué Lovers

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

82 charts

Rank Score:

419

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

101

Overall Rank:

3,495

Average Rating:

79 (82 votes)

Comments:

150.

Solitude

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

44 charts

Rank Score:

256

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

150

Overall Rank:

5,232

Average Rating:

76 (34 votes)

Comments:

160.

Billie Holiday Sings (1950)
Compilation

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1950

Appears in:

30 charts

Rank Score:

238

Rank in 1950:

Rank in 1950s:

160

Overall Rank:

5,562

Average Rating:

71 (23 votes)

Comments:

206.

An Evening With Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1953

Appears in:

29 charts

Rank Score:

177

Rank in 1953:

Rank in 1950s:

206

Overall Rank:

7,167

Average Rating:

71 (21 votes)

Comments:

245.

Body And Soul

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

34 charts

Rank Score:

143

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

245

Overall Rank:

8,539

Average Rating:

75 (23 votes)

Comments:

336.

Lover Man
Compilation

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1951

Appears in:

22 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1951:

Rank in 1950s:

336

Overall Rank:

11,797

Average Rating:

73 (19 votes)

Comments:

379.

The Billie Holiday Story
Compilation

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

15 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

379

Overall Rank:

13,474

Average Rating:

69 (14 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 18. Page 1 of 2

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	58	6%
1953	62	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	85	9%
1956	117	12%
1957	152	15%
1958	172	17%
1959	198	20%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	779	78%
	39	4%
	32	3%
	26	3%
	21	2%
	12	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%

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

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