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 50,000 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	5,211	Voice Of The Xtabay (1,963rd)by Yma Sumac
1951	138	4,206	Genius Of Modern Music: Volume 1 (2,861st)by Thelonious Monk
1952	152	7,399	Bird & Diz (1,957th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	191	6,088	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,884th)by Peggy Lee
1954	223	10,999	Chet Baker Sings (724th)by Chet Baker
1955	316	14,981	In The Wee Small Hours (385th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	426	32,381	Elvis Presley (365th)by Elvis Presley
1957	554	45,500	Blue Train (315th)by John Coltrane
1958	552	40,898	Lady In Satin (587th)by Billie Holiday
1959	603	83,624	Kind Of Blue (38th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,276	251,286

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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Kind Of Blue

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

1,585 charts

Rank Score:

26,738

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (2,180 votes)

Comments:

161

Mingus Ah Um

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

633 charts

Rank Score:

7,630

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

232

Average Rating:

84 (693 votes)

Comments:

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

618 charts

Rank Score:

6,617

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

555 charts

Rank Score:

5,981

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

315

Average Rating:

84 (627 votes)

Comments:

Elvis Presley

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

560 charts

Rank Score:

5,085

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

365

Average Rating:

79 (734 votes)

Comments:

In The Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatra

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

455 charts

Rank Score:

4,827

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

385

Average Rating:

80 (620 votes)

Comments:

The Shape Of Jazz To Come

Ornette Coleman

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

408 charts

Rank Score:

4,064

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

459

Average Rating:

81 (483 votes)

Comments:

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

403 charts

Rank Score:

4,031

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

463

Average Rating:

80 (470 votes)

Comments:

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

358 charts

Rank Score:

3,519

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

527

Average Rating:

84 (344 votes)

Comments:

10.

Chuck Berry Is On Top

Chuck Berry

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

340 charts

Rank Score:

3,192

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

573

Average Rating:

80 (302 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	41	4%
1951	41	4%
1952	61	6%
1953	62	6%
1954	75	8%
1955	87	9%
1956	116	12%
1957	152	15%
1958	175	18%
1959	190	19%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	776	78%
	39	4%
	32	3%
	29	3%
	20	2%
	13	1%
	10	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	944	94%
Yes	56	6%

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

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

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

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