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 49,000 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	121	5,174	Voice Of The Xtabay (1,932nd)by Yma Sumac
1951	137	4,165	Genius Of Modern Music: Volume 1 (2,818th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	154	7,414	Bird & Diz (1,921st)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	186	5,949	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,873rd)by Peggy Lee
1954	222	10,700	Chet Baker Sings (748th)by Chet Baker
1955	315	14,966	In The Wee Small Hours (385th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	423	32,096	Elvis Presley (373rd)by Elvis Presley
1957	547	45,445	Blue Train (315th)by John Coltrane
1958	544	40,212	Lady In Satin (581st)by Billie Holiday
1959	602	84,243	Kind Of Blue (38th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,251	250,364

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, John Coltrane and Billie Holiday.

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Blue Train

John Coltrane

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

552 charts

Rank Score:

5,977

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

315

Average Rating:

84 (627 votes)

Comments:

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

398 charts

Rank Score:

3,989

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

464

Average Rating:

79 (468 votes)

Comments:

12.

Brilliant Corners

Thelonious Monk

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

357 charts

Rank Score:

3,126

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

591

Average Rating:

82 (360 votes)

Comments:

15.

Saxophone Colossus

Sonny Rollins

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

345 charts

Rank Score:

2,833

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

651

Average Rating:

82 (363 votes)

Comments:

16.

The "Chirping" Crickets

The Crickets

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

298 charts

Rank Score:

2,714

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

679

Average Rating:

78 (305 votes)

Comments:

17.

Birth Of The Cool
Compilation

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

347 charts

Rank Score:

2,496

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

740

Average Rating:

80 (445 votes)

Comments:

23.

'Round About Midnight

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

235 charts

Rank Score:

1,838

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,002

Average Rating:

82 (296 votes)

Comments:

25.

Johnny Cash With His Hot And Blue Guitar

Johnny Cash

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

218 charts

Rank Score:

1,601

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,137

Average Rating:

77 (210 votes)

Comments:

29.

After School Session

Chuck Berry

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

187 charts

Rank Score:

1,483

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,218

Average Rating:

78 (152 votes)

Comments:

39.

Ray Charles

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

124 charts

Rank Score:

1,037

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

1,664

Average Rating:

76 (98 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 153. Page 1 of 16

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	41	4%
1951	41	4%
1952	60	6%
1953	62	6%
1954	72	7%
1955	88	9%
1956	118	12%
1957	153	15%
1958	172	17%
1959	193	19%

Artist	Albums	%

Billie Holiday	18	2%
Frank Sinatra	16	2%
Miles Davis	16	2%
Various Artists	16	2%
Sonny Rollins	15	2%
Ella Fitzgerald	12	1%
Sarah Vaughan	11	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	779	78%
	37	4%
	32	3%
	29	3%
	20	2%
	13	1%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	943	94%
Yes	57	6%

Live?	Albums	%
No	964	96%
Yes	36	4%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	979	98%
Yes	21	2%

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

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