Best Albums of the 1950s

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Listed below are the best albums of the 1950s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 41,000 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	88	3,862	The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Ja... (2,506th)by Benny Goodman
1951	116	3,441	Genius Of Modern Music: Volume 1 (3,160th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	138	5,902	Bird & Diz (2,294th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	174	5,424	Black Coffee (2,127th)by Peggy Lee
1954	198	9,257	Chet Baker Sings (1,081st)by Chet Baker
1955	270	12,213	In The Wee Small Hours (406th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	358	28,165	Elvis Presley (411th)by Elvis Presley
1957	457	40,818	Blue Train (360th)by John Coltrane
1958	468	35,307	Lady In Satin (654th)by Billie Holiday
1959	486	79,559	Kind Of Blue (40th)by Miles Davis
Total	2,753	223,947

The best artists of the 1950s were Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Frank Sinatra, Charles Mingus, Elvis Presley, Art Blakey, Buddy Holly, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane.

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Kind Of Blue

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

1,381 charts

Rank Score:

30,870

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (1,924 votes)

Comments:

141

Mingus Ah Um

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

515 charts

Rank Score:

7,591

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

259

Average Rating:

84 (584 votes)

Comments:

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

523 charts

Rank Score:

6,499

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

432 charts

Rank Score:

5,424

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

360

Average Rating:

84 (522 votes)

Comments:

In The Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatra

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

371 charts

Rank Score:

4,772

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

405

Average Rating:

80 (535 votes)

Comments:

Elvis Presley

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

451 charts

Rank Score:

4,739

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

411

Average Rating:

80 (644 votes)

Comments:

The Shape Of Jazz To Come

Ornette Coleman

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

347 charts

Rank Score:

4,318

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

446

Average Rating:

81 (407 votes)

Comments:

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

306 charts

Rank Score:

3,419

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

559

Average Rating:

79 (398 votes)

Comments:

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

276 charts

Rank Score:

2,887

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

652

Average Rating:

83 (271 votes)

Comments:

10.

Lady In Satin

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

284 charts

Rank Score:

2,860

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

654

Average Rating:

80 (299 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	42	4%
1952	52	5%
1953	57	6%
1954	69	7%
1955	89	9%
1956	123	12%
1957	158	16%
1958	182	18%
1959	189	19%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	766	77%
	54	5%
	33	3%
	31	3%
	24	2%
	10	1%
	8	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	947	95%
Yes	54	5%

Live?	Albums	%
No	990	99%
Yes	11	1%

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

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