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
Last updated: 4 hours 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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Average Rating:
Comments:
"I absolutely love her voice. I feel though that she did another set of recordings I heard on best of with a little more sass on a best of compilation I own." Reply
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RoundTheBend | 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:
"Elvis Presley's second album is obviously nowhere near as significant or important as his first, but it is a more consistent record. Some great rock'n'roll classics sung with gusto serve to make this a thoroughly enjoyable album. Elvis at his early best." Reply
Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,422
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Comments:
"This just oozes 1950s French art film, in the best way possible. It feels a bit disjointed in places, but the music is so good, I'm willing to forgo that complaint completely." Reply
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teague | Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 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:
1,403
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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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"Fabulous, somber, drinking a bottle of gin on your own song cycle. The genesis of mature, modern popular music can be found with the Sinnatra/ Nelson Riddle albums of the 50s." Reply
Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,268
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"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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"Listen up! He doin' the Mess Around. Turns out he was Genius right from the start. All killer no filler. Remarkable for a non-jazz 50s album." Reply
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,220
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Comments:
"A worthy follow-up to his brilliant debut record, this one's also filled with the same amount of vigour and unabashed fun. Excellent!" Reply
Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,178
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Comments:
"Stunning." Reply
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HoldenM | 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:
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% | |
| Frank Sinatra | 16 | 2% | |
| Sonny Rollins | 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 5 from 67th 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 |
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Up 4 from 101st to 97th |
| Leavers Leavers from top 100 since last month |
|---|
Down 2 from 99th to 101st |
