Best Albums of the 1950s
Explore the best albums of the 1950s, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 charts.
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Last updated: 4 hours ago
Last updated: 4 hours ago
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"Great record though it seems to always be touted as some jazz gateway record which I've never really understood. I bought it way back without any jazz knowledge and didn't appreciate it at all. I only loved it after other avenues into jazz via hip hop, funk, jazzfunk etc. If you don't like this a..." [+] Reply
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Graeme2 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
20,963
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Charles Mingus is a pretty cool dude, played a mean bass. This album's sweet as candy mangoes, every track is a dang standard as far as this guy is concerned. An entirely different monster than Black Saint, but just as good in its own ways. If "Haitian Fight Song" happened to be tagged onto the e..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,838
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Comments:
"1959 was the greatest year in jazz history, and Time Out is one the year's best albums. Dave Brubeck combined cool jazz with odd time signatures to examine one of jazz music's core tenets, and show that jazz does not need to strictly be played in 4/4 or march time. Exploring 3s, 5s, 9s and other ..." [+] Reply
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souplipton | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,291
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"While not as great a revolutionary opus as A Love Supreme, Blue Train is nevertheless its equal as an exemplary exposition of what great jazz can be. This one is highly listenable without forsaking any of the compositional and improvisational challenge that sets Coltrane apart in the first place...." [+] Reply
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Fischman | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,415
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Comments:
"Elvis shows here why he is one of the true founders of the mainstream Rock N’ Roll movement with this short but snappy album. Although a bouncy bop for the vast majority of the album, there are parts which show Elvis experimenting with his voices to differing levels of effectiveness. On the track..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,010
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"if you ever do LSD, listen to this album. even though the lyrics are depressing, the mood it creates is a wonderful air of chill nostalgia. i can only compare it to a 3 year old on christmas morning" Reply
Year of Release:
1955
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,554
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"This must be history’s best aged album; I never expected myself enjoying a ‘50s album so much, yet here I am. The peak of rock ‘n’ roll and the beginning of soul; Otis Redding’s biggest inspiration and John Lennon’s biggest idol." Reply
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Boltzmann | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
4,186
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Comments:
"Those geese most be having a very interesting conversation It's too bad I don't speak goose" Reply
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Mechalodon | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,862
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Comments:
"He really is the driving force of this record. Even when he is just keeping time. He is just great a that! The rest of the musicians are top players on peak form. So the album sounds great and makes you move with loads of attack and punch. Clearly musicians trying the push the boundaries of the s..." [+] Reply
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JoaoMoreira | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,514
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Great Album. My only beef with Chuck Berry is he often starts his songs off the same, but other than that, his guitar playing brought the guitar to the forefront more than anyone else. Almost no filler on this album. Key tracks- Carol, Maybellene, Johnny B. Goode, Roll Over Beethoven. I also like..." [+] Reply
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RoundTheBend | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (5 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,511
Rank in 1959:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 964. Page 1 of 97
Best Albums of the 1950s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 48 | 5% | |
| 1951 | 43 | 4% | |
| 1952 | 57 | 6% | |
| 1953 | 61 | 6% | |
| 1954 | 72 | 7% | |
| 1955 | 91 | 9% | |
| 1956 | 117 | 12% | |
| 1957 | 153 | 15% | |
| 1958 | 169 | 17% | |
| 1959 | 189 | 19% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Miles Davis | 22 | 2% | |
| Billie Holiday | 18 | 2% | |
| Frank Sinatra | 16 | 2% | |
| Sonny Rollins | 16 | 2% | |
| Various Artists | 15 | 2% | |
| Thelonious Monk | 14 | 1% | |
| Ella Fitzgerald | 13 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
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|||
 |
787 | 79% | |
 |
33 | 3% | |
 |
33 | 3% | |
 |
24 | 2% | |
 |
17 | 2% | |
 |
13 | 1% | |
 |
10 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Best Albums of the 1950s chart changes
| Biggest climbers Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Up 6 from 68th to 62nd |
Up 4 from 101st to 97th |
Up 4 from 29th to 25th |
| Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 5 from 76th to 81st |
Down 5 from 80th to 85th |
Down 4 from 96th to 100th |
| New entries New entries in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Up 4 from 101st to 97th |
| Leavers Leavers from top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 2 from 99th to 101st |
