Best Albums of the 1950s
Explore the best albums of the 1950s, based on over 2 million album rankings across 59,000 charts.
Last updated: 6 hours ago.
Last updated: 6 hours ago.
This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from 1956. (Remove this filter)
"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:
5,038
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"So smooth. So cool. Best cocktail music ever. I wish I was as cool as Sinatra's pinky toe." Reply
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junodog4 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,877
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Comments:
"Better than Clown. Some interesting stuff on here. Sometimes sounds all over the place which can be either amazing or off-putting." Reply
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Larcx13 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,912
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Comments:
"Originally one of the best non-live records ever made. Ellington and his producer were so displeased with the sound quality taken from their concert that Ellington arranged to have his orchestra show up in studio and record the album and over dub the sound of the audience. Only years later with c..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,656
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Comments:
"Such a perfect collab makes nearly every song here a classic. Ella's absolutely wonderful Voice and Louis's deep tone, both in his playing and in his singing completes each other in a unique way, never quite to be done again. For the majority of us in this site, this album represents a part of re..." [+] Reply
Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,633
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Comments:
"Can't listen to it without being affected emotionally. Impossible." Reply
- junodog4 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,460
Rank in 1956:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Obviously difficult to place yourself there in the 50's to understand the impact of this but it does feel like a dip after the previous record" Reply
Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,412
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Comments:
"Her best and one of the best vocal jazz records of all time, just perfect" Reply
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jnfbn | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,219
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Comments:
"I'm a pianist, and this is my favorite piano music of all time. Really tough to play stuff. Holding all of the counterpoint in your head is difficult stuff." Reply
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colonelchibbers | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
932
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"Such a fun record! I really feel teleported back to the 50's with this one. A nice balance of sweet and funny, and just a wonderfully performed album." Reply
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sszwalbenest | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 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:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
829
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Total albums: 117. Page 1 of 12
Best Albums of the 1950s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 47 | 5% | |
| 1951 | 42 | 4% | |
| 1952 | 57 | 6% | |
| 1953 | 59 | 6% | |
| 1954 | 73 | 7% | |
| 1955 | 92 | 9% | |
| 1956 | 117 | 12% | |
| 1957 | 154 | 15% | |
| 1958 | 170 | 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 | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
788 | 79% | |
 |
33 | 3% | |
 |
33 | 3% | |
 |
23 | 2% | |
 |
17 | 2% | |
 |
13 | 1% | |
 |
10 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Recognised
Year Charts (2025)
