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 53,000 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	122	5,214	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,056th)by Yma Sumac
1951	140	4,223	Genius Of Modern Music (2,769th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	150	6,930	Bird & Diz (1,988th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	193	6,475	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,856th)by Peggy Lee
1954	229	11,164	Chet Baker Sings (676th)by Chet Baker
1955	322	14,873	In The Wee Small Hours (380th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	434	32,537	Elvis Presley (364th)by Elvis Presley
1957	565	45,432	Blue Train (300th)by John Coltrane
1958	567	41,409	Lady In Satin (570th)by Billie Holiday
1959	609	82,046	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,331	250,303

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.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Share | |

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

991.

Julian "Cannonball" Adderley

Cannonball Adderley

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

12 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

991

Overall Rank:

34,936

Average Rating:

72 (10 votes)

Comments:

992.

Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Suite; Waldteufel: The Skaters Waltz; Rossini: William Tell

Arturo Toscanini / NBC Symphony Orchestra

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

7 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

993.

Lili Marlene

Marlene Dietrich

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

5 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

994.

The Pajama Game

The Original Broadway Cast

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

10 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

994

Overall Rank:

34,974

Average Rating:

70 (5 votes)

Comments:

995.

Saudosa Maloca

Os Demônios Da Garoa Nos Sambas De Adoniran Barbosa

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

3 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

995

Overall Rank:

34,985

Average Rating:

71 (3 votes)

Comments:

996.

The Weary Blues With Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

6 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

997.

I'm Wild Again

Frances Faye

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

997

Overall Rank:

35,008

Average Rating:

70 (3 votes)

Comments:

998.

Encontro Com Ary

Ary Barroso

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

2 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

999.

In Memoriam Django Reinhardt

Le Quintette Du Hot Club De France

Year of Release:

1953

Appears in:

5 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1953:

Rank in 1950s:

999

Overall Rank:

35,075

Average Rating:

71 (3 votes)

Comments:

1000.

Groovin' At Small's Paradise, Volume 1

Jimmy Smith

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
...
98
99
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 100 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	39	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	58	6%
1953	62	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	86	9%
1956	118	12%
1957	152	15%
1958	174	17%
1959	195	20%

Artist	Albums	%

Various Artists	19	2%
Billie Holiday	18	2%
Miles Davis	16	2%
Frank Sinatra	15	2%
Sonny Rollins	15	2%
Ella Fitzgerald	13	1%
Elvis Presley	11	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	781	78%
	39	4%
	31	3%
	26	3%
	21	2%
	12	1%
	10	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	943	94%
Yes	57	6%

Live?	Albums	%
No	963	96%
Yes	37	4%

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

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

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Recent Member Charts
1. Top 6 Music Albums of 2000 by Tuur (2024)
2. Top 57 Music Albums of 1965 by Leonard (2024)
3. Top 89 Music Albums of the 2010s by swed (2024)
4. Top albums of all time by female artists by Johnnyo (2024)
5. Albums waiting to be added 9 by Johnnyo (2024)
6. Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by ItsGabe (2024)
7. New York by Johnnyo (2024)
8. Albums waiting to be added 8 by Johnnyo (2024)
9. Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Jameth (2024)
10. Top 4 Music Albums of the 2020s by swed (2024)
11. Top 36 Music Albums of 1978 by jonny5244 (2024)
12. Stranger Than Paradise albums of the year 2021 by Johnnyo (2024)
13. Top 67 Music Albums of 1989 by cicadelic (2024)
14. Top 20 Music Albums of 1989 by jonny5244 (2024)
15. Top 50 Music Albums of the 1980s by VanillaBean (2024)
16. Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by Graeme2 (2024)
17. Top 16 Music Albums of 2024 by zags7000 (2024)
18. Top 10 Music Albums of 1999 by Tuur (2024)
19. Top 10 Music Albums of 1998 by Tuur (2024)
20. Top 80 Music Albums of the 2010s by radio-head (2024)