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 54,000 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	125	5,242	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,112th)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,214	Genius Of Modern Music (2,798th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	152	7,057	Bird & Diz (1,963rd)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	194	6,719	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,808th)by Peggy Lee
1954	231	11,136	Chet Baker Sings (681st)by Chet Baker
1955	334	14,961	In The Wee Small Hours (374th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	444	32,558	Elvis Presley (355th)by Elvis Presley
1957	576	45,457	Blue Train (308th)by John Coltrane
1958	576	41,462	Lady In Satin (558th)by Billie Holiday
1959	621	81,297	Kind Of Blue (38th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,394	250,103

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, Billie Holiday and John Coltrane.

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Kind Of Blue

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

1,619 charts

Rank Score:

24,285

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (2,228 votes)

Comments:

168

Mingus Ah Um

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

642 charts

Rank Score:

7,250

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

233

Average Rating:

84 (710 votes)

Comments:

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

633 charts

Rank Score:

6,466

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

576 charts

Rank Score:

5,848

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

308

Average Rating:

84 (650 votes)

Comments:

Elvis Presley

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

577 charts

Rank Score:

4,990

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

355

Average Rating:

79 (752 votes)

Comments:

In The Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatra

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

479 charts

Rank Score:

4,754

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

374

Average Rating:

80 (636 votes)

Comments:

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

412 charts

Rank Score:

4,043

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

444

Average Rating:

79 (484 votes)

Comments:

The Shape Of Jazz To Come

Ornette Coleman

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

418 charts

Rank Score:

3,974

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

451

Average Rating:

81 (499 votes)

Comments:

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

374 charts

Rank Score:

3,573

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

501

Average Rating:

84 (357 votes)

Comments:

10.

Berry Is On Top

Chuck Berry

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

353 charts

Rank Score:

3,411

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

531

Average Rating:

80 (312 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	39	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	59	6%
1953	63	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	82	8%
1956	117	12%
1957	153	15%
1958	173	17%
1959	198	20%

Artist	Albums	%

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

Country	Albums	%

	777	78%
	37	4%
	34	3%
	27	3%
	19	2%
	12	1%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	942	94%
Yes	58	6%

Live?	Albums	%
No	962	96%
Yes	38	4%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

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

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