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 46,000 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	113	4,473	The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Ja... (2,340th)by Benny Goodman
1951	125	3,828	Genius Of Modern Music: Volume 1 (2,790th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	147	6,957	Bird & Diz (2,019th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	182	5,354	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (2,004th)by Peggy Lee
1954	211	9,476	Chet Baker Sings (908th)by Chet Baker
1955	292	13,798	In The Wee Small Hours (404th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	394	29,343	Elvis Presley (395th)by Elvis Presley
1957	511	44,048	Blue Train (338th)by John Coltrane
1958	503	38,717	Lady In Satin (615th)by Billie Holiday
1959	534	82,536	Kind Of Blue (40th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,012	238,529

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:

1,484 charts

Rank Score:

30,020

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (2,031 votes)

Comments:

149

Mingus Ah Um

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

568 charts

Rank Score:

7,951

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

251

Average Rating:

85 (629 votes)

Comments:

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

576 charts

Rank Score:

6,923

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

502 charts

Rank Score:

5,874

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

338

Average Rating:

84 (579 votes)

Comments:

Elvis Presley

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

510 charts

Rank Score:

5,020

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

395

Average Rating:

80 (683 votes)

Comments:

In The Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatra

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

414 charts

Rank Score:

4,913

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

404

Average Rating:

80 (569 votes)

Comments:

The Shape Of Jazz To Come

Ornette Coleman

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

369 charts

Rank Score:

4,327

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

453

Average Rating:

82 (437 votes)

Comments:

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

359 charts

Rank Score:

3,942

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

492

Average Rating:

79 (426 votes)

Comments:

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

321 charts

Rank Score:

3,366

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

570

Average Rating:

83 (304 votes)

Comments:

10.

Lady In Satin

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

314 charts

Rank Score:

3,152

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

615

Average Rating:

80 (320 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	44	4%
1951	44	4%
1952	54	5%
1953	59	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	89	9%
1956	121	12%
1957	153	15%
1958	173	17%
1959	187	19%

Artist	Albums	%

Various Artists	18	2%
Billie Holiday	18	2%
Frank Sinatra	17	2%
Miles Davis	15	2%
Sonny Rollins	15	2%
Sarah Vaughan	12	1%
Ella Fitzgerald	12	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	771	77%
	38	4%
	31	3%
	28	3%
	28	3%
	12	1%
	9	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	946	95%
Yes	54	5%

Live?	Albums	%
No	967	97%
Yes	33	3%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	986	99%
Yes	14	1%

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

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