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Best Albums of the 1950s

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

Listed below are the greatest albums of the 1950s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 36,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade
View by decade:1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s
View by year:
1950s decade summary
YearAlbums   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.
1950653,467 The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Ja... (2,477th)
by Benny Goodman
1951973,339 Hank Williams Sings (3,341st)
by Hank Williams With His Drifting ...
19521126,646 Anthology Of American Folk Music (2,397th)
by Various Artists
19531254,686 Black Coffee (2,462nd)
by Peggy Lee
19541449,421 Chet Baker Sings (1,253rd)
by Chet Baker
195521612,800 In The Wee Small Hours (450th)
by Frank Sinatra
195630334,099 Elvis Presley (419th)
by Elvis Presley
195738939,382 Blue Train (417th)
by John Coltrane
195840433,838 Lady In Satin (713th)
by Billie Holiday
1959406100,512 Kind Of Blue (38th)
by Miles Davis
Total2,261248,189

The best artists of the 1950s were Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Frank Sinatra, Charles Mingus, Elvis Presley, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, John Coltrane, Buddy Holly, Billie Holiday and Art Blakey.
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Sort byOverall Rank | Number of Charts | Average Rating | Number of Ratings | Release Date | Title | Artist
RankAlbumArtist
1.

Kind Of BlueUnited States Miles Davis
Year of Release:1959Appears in:1,285 charts
Rank in 1959:1Rank Score:47,889
Rank in 1950s1Overall Rank:38
Average Rating: Top rated 89/100 (1,758 votes)
Comments: 128 comments
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2.

Mingus Ah UmUnited States Charles Mingus
Year of Release:1959Appears in:460 charts
Rank in 1959:2Rank Score:9,473
Rank in 1950s2Overall Rank:297
Average Rating:  84/100 (512 votes)
Comments: 27 comments
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3.

Time OutUnited States The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Year of Release:1959Appears in:468 charts
Rank in 1959:3Rank Score:7,964
Rank in 1950s3Overall Rank:353
Average Rating:  84/100 (509 votes)
Comments: 23 comments
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4.

Blue TrainUnited States John Coltrane
Year of Release:1957Appears in:388 charts
Rank in 1957:1Rank Score:6,301
Rank in 1950s4Overall Rank:417
Average Rating:  84/100 (468 votes)
Comments: 17 comments
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5.

Elvis PresleyUnited States Elvis Presley
Year of Release:1956Appears in:406 charts
Rank in 1956:1Rank Score:6,287
Rank in 1950s5Overall Rank:419
Average Rating:  80/100 (569 votes)
Comments: 24 comments
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6.

In The Wee Small HoursUnited States Frank Sinatra
Year of Release:1955Appears in:330 charts
Rank in 1955:1Rank Score:5,952
Rank in 1950s6Overall Rank:450
Average Rating:  80/100 (465 votes)
Comments: 28 comments
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7.

The Shape Of Jazz To ComeUnited States Ornette Coleman
Year of Release:1959Appears in:328 charts
Rank in 1959:4Rank Score:5,547
Rank in 1950s7Overall Rank:475
Average Rating:  82/100 (367 votes)
Comments: 19 comments
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8.

Here's Little RichardUnited States Little Richard
Year of Release:1957Appears in:272 charts
Rank in 1957:2Rank Score:3,967
Rank in 1950s8Overall Rank:643
Average Rating:  79/100 (342 votes)
Comments: 27 comments
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9.

Saxophone ColossusUnited States Sonny Rollins
Year of Release:1956Appears in:257 charts
Rank in 1956:2Rank Score:3,620
Rank in 1950s9Overall Rank:695
Average Rating:  81/100 (263 votes)
Comments: 8 comments
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10.

Lady In SatinUnited States Billie Holiday
Year of Release:1958Appears in:249 charts
Rank in 1958:1Rank Score:3,546
Rank in 1950s10Overall Rank:713
Average Rating:  80/100 (264 votes)
Comments: 13 comments
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Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year Albums %


1950 31 3%
1951 41 4%
1952 49 5%
1953 52 5%
1954 74 7%
1955 89 9%
1956 126 13%
1957 165 17%
1958 180 18%
1959 193 19%
Artist Albums %


Various Artists 19 2%
Miles Davis 17 2%
Frank Sinatra 16 2%
Sonny Rollins 15 2%
Billie Holiday 14 1%
Ella Fitzgerald 11 1%
Sarah Vaughan 11 1%
Show all
Country Albums %


United States 752 75%
Mixed Nationality 55 6%
United Kingdom 37 4%
Brazil 36 4%
France 26 3%
Canada 13 1%
Germany 8 1%
Show all

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