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: 1 hour ago
Last updated: 1 hour ago
"Although it doesn’t sound that extraordinary now, and in places I find it quite weak, how must this have sounded in 1957. Quite amazing I would think. Albums need to be put in context. For that alone this should probably be considered a classic." Reply
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,478
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Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
"Just beautiful. An amazing album with three fucking perfect songs as the title track, god bless the child, and strange fruit." Reply
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seb7 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 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:
1,455
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Comments:
"You can really hear the early energy of a young Elvis. This explains why he remains a cultural icon." Reply
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junodog4 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,422
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Average Rating:
Comments:
"I really like the chill, "cool", feel of this album. I think it hits that better than any other of his I have listened too. Just chill jazz." Reply
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RoundTheBend | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,402
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Comments:
"My favorite bossa nova record. For English speakers who dont understand portuguese IMO tbe best lyrics are in the title track and in "desafinado" the rest is pretty passable clearly more interested in conveying a "vibe" than focus on emotional impact. What a vibe it is." Reply
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,358
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Comments:
"Sinatra quote-"Only The Lonely was my Finest hour"." Reply
Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,268
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Comments:
"I cannot think of a better combination than Ella & Cole Porter. With classics such as Everytime We Say Goodbye, Just One of Those Things And I Love Paris it is just fantastic." Reply
Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,257
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Comments:
"A collection of very good to excellent songs made all excellent by the stunningly talented Ray Charles. 9/10!" Reply
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,220
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Comments:
"At first, you'll think this is the greatest album ever, but most of the album is decent filler while there are only a few fantastic tracks." Reply
Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,178
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Comments:
"The quality of her voice is outstanding on this record. The arrangements and production are perfect," Reply
Year of Release:
1955
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,161
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Total albums: 1,000. Page 4 of 100
Best Albums of the 1950s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 48 | 5% | |
| 1951 | 43 | 4% | |
| 1952 | 57 | 6% | |
| 1953 | 61 | 6% | |
| 1954 | 72 | 7% | |
| 1955 | 91 | 9% | |
| 1956 | 117 | 12% | |
| 1957 | 153 | 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 | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
 |
787 | 79% | |
 |
33 | 3% | |
 |
33 | 3% | |
 |
24 | 2% | |
 |
17 | 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 6 from 68th to 62nd |
Up 4 from 101st to 97th |
Up 4 from 29th to 25th |
| Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 5 from 76th to 81st |
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 |
