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 54,000 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	5,252	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,131st)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,219	Genius Of Modern Music (2,782nd)by Thelonious Monk
1952	153	6,990	Bird & Diz (1,949th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	196	6,735	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,814th)by Peggy Lee
1954	232	11,111	Chet Baker Sings (681st)by Chet Baker
1955	342	14,953	In The Wee Small Hours (379th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	452	32,505	Elvis Presley (353rd)by Elvis Presley
1957	579	45,644	Blue Train (293rd)by John Coltrane
1958	594	41,392	Lady In Satin (557th)by Billie Holiday
1959	640	81,530	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,454	250,331

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.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

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

This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from 1952. (Remove this filter)

Sort by

49.

Bird & Diz

Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

133 charts

Rank Score:

853

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,949

Average Rating:

77 (118 votes)

Comments:

69.

Moanin' The Blues

Hank Williams

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

100 charts

Rank Score:

619

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,547

Average Rating:

75 (82 votes)

Comments:

74.

Anthology Of American Folk Music
Compilation

Various Artists

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

81 charts

Rank Score:

566

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,713

Average Rating:

78 (78 votes)

Comments:

97.

Billie Holiday Sings

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

72 charts

Rank Score:

442

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

3,334

Average Rating:

76 (66 votes)

Comments:

114.

The Amazing Bud Powell

Bud Powell

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

74 charts

Rank Score:

360

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

114

Overall Rank:

4,002

Average Rating:

76 (65 votes)

Comments:

123.

Genius Of Modern Music, Vol. 2
Compilation

Thelonious Monk

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

63 charts

Rank Score:

333

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

123

Overall Rank:

4,266

Average Rating:

77 (63 votes)

Comments:

129.

La Vie En Rose

Édith Piaf

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

46 charts

Rank Score:

317

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

129

Overall Rank:

4,434

Average Rating:

71 (34 votes)

Comments:

145.

Unforgettable
Compilation

Nat King Cole

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

45 charts

Rank Score:

264

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

145

Overall Rank:

5,140

Average Rating:

73 (46 votes)

Comments:

178.

Satchmo Serenades

Louis Armstrong

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

28 charts

Rank Score:

216

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

178

Overall Rank:

6,067

Average Rating:

74 (24 votes)

Comments:

227.

Singin' In The Rain (Recorded Directly From The Sound Track Of The M-G-M Technicolor Musical)
Soundtrack

Various Artists

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

30 charts

Rank Score:

159

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

227

Overall Rank:

7,870

Average Rating:

73 (25 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
next »

Total albums: 59. Page 1 of 6

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	59	6%
1953	63	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	82	8%
1956	116	12%
1957	153	15%
1958	173	17%
1959	198	20%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	776	78%
	37	4%
	34	3%
	27	3%
	19	2%
	13	1%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	942	94%
Yes	58	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 »

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.

Recognised Year Charts (2023)
1. The 50 Best Albums of 2023 by Billboard (2023)
2. Top 10 Albums of the Year 2023 by Bleep (2023)
3. Top 40 Albums of 2023 by Decibel (2023)
4. The 100 Best Albums of 2023 by Rolling Stone (2023)
5. Albums Of The Year 2023 by Rough Trade (2023)
6. Les Inrocks Albums of the Year 2023 by Les Inrocks (2023)
7. The 27 best albums of 2023 by The A.V. Club (2023)
8. Top 55 Albums of 2023 by The Alternative (2023)
9. Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2023 by Under The Radar by Under The Radar (2023)
10. Uncut Best 75 Albums Of The Year 2023 by Uncut (2023)
11. The Best Albums of 2023 by The Ringer (2023)
12. Best Albums of 2023 by Northern Transmissions (2023)
13. Albums of 2023 by God is in the TV (2023)
14. Top 50 Albums of 2023 by The Wire (2023)
15. 30 Best Albums of 2023 by Revolver (2023)
16. The Needle Drop's Top 50 Albums of 2023 by The Needle Drop (2023)
17. Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2023 by Gorilla vs. Bear (2023)
18. The 50 Best Albums of 2023 by Treble (2023)
19. Quietus Albums Of The Year 2023 by The Quietus (2023)
20. Best Albums of 2023 by Norman Records (2023)