Best Albums of the 1950s
Explore the best albums of the 1950s, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 charts
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Last updated: 4 hours ago
"I felt heartbroken by the imperfection of her voice on this one every time I listened to this... For Heaven's Sake is one of the most beautiful love ballads I've ever heard." Reply
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ilovelctr | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,237
Rank in 1958:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"The core melodies of each song are great, but the solos go a little too much off track, in my opinion, to the point where you just want the solo to stop so the main melody can play again. That being said, it was still a fun listen and Monk is definitely a very talented musician." Reply
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Space-Dementia | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,934
Rank in 1957:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"I tend to put my jazz collection down for months at a time and when I do, I return to Miles or Mingus. But every time this one makes its way into my ears I remember why it's my favorite jazz album. Every track is perfect." Reply
Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,924
Rank in 1958:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Loved it. So much romance and class in one album blows my mind!" Reply
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Jasonconfused | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,879
Rank in 1956:
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"One of the true origins of rock n roll..." Reply
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vilangelo | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,761
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"wow. very cool. This album makes me want to look further into jazz." Reply
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ImmortalAl | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,704
Rank in 1957:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"NO! You can't have a song called 'I've Never Been In Love Before' on an album with a song called 'I Fall in Love Too Easily'! This makes no sense! You're a blatant liar Chet Baker and you know it!" Reply
Year of Release:
1954
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,630
Rank in 1954:
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Comments:
"One can only imagine what Buddy Holly would have been capable of creating had he stayed alive. His gift of song-craft was unmatched by anyone else in his time. Elvis was a captivating performed, but he wasn't an artist like Buddy Holly. Rock and roll is the way it is today because of him. This al..." Reply
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junodog4 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,620
Rank in 1958:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"When I was a budding Sax player in High School, I was handed sheet music to Boplicity and it opened my world musically to so many things I wasn't ready for at the time. Not Miles' best work, by a mile, but still a necessary listen when following the history of Jazz." Reply
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,515
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Suprb album. What a voice. I love the harmonica sound." Reply
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lancashirearab | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,436
Rank in 1959:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100
Best Albums of the 1950s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 48 | 5% | |
| 1951 | 44 | 4% | |
| 1952 | 57 | 6% | |
| 1953 | 60 | 6% | |
| 1954 | 72 | 7% | |
| 1955 | 92 | 9% | |
| 1956 | 117 | 12% | |
| 1957 | 152 | 15% | |
| 1958 | 169 | 17% | |
| 1959 | 189 | 19% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Miles Davis | 22 | 2% | |
| Billie Holiday | 18 | 2% | |
| Sonny Rollins | 16 | 2% | |
| Frank Sinatra | 16 | 2% | |
| Various Artists | 15 | 2% | |
| Thelonious Monk | 14 | 1% | |
| Ella Fitzgerald | 13 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
789 | 79% | |
 |
33 | 3% | |
 |
33 | 3% | |
 |
24 | 2% | |
 |
16 | 2% | |
 |
13 | 1% | |
 |
10 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Best Albums of the 1950s chart changes
| Biggest climbers Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Up 5 from 68th to 63rd |
Up 5 from 62nd to 57th |
Up 4 from 101st to 97th |
| Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 5 from 59th to 64th |
Down 5 from 80th to 85th |
Down 4 from 96th to 100th |
| New entries New entries in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Up 4 from 101st to 97th |
| Leavers Leavers from top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 2 from 99th to 101st |
