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 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	125	5,233	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,089th)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,183	Genius Of Modern Music (2,810th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	151	6,933	Bird & Diz (1,991st)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	194	6,679	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,842nd)by Peggy Lee
1954	230	11,129	Chet Baker Sings (682nd)by Chet Baker
1955	330	14,864	In The Wee Small Hours (381st)by Frank Sinatra
1956	442	32,260	Elvis Presley (364th)by Elvis Presley
1957	573	45,326	Blue Train (308th)by John Coltrane
1958	573	41,323	Lady In Satin (556th)by Billie Holiday
1959	616	81,245	Kind Of Blue (38th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,375	249,175

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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81.

Genius Of Modern Music
Compilation

Thelonious Monk

Year of Release:

1951

Appears in:

95 charts

Rank Score:

545

Rank in 1951:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,810

Average Rating:

77 (100 votes)

Comments:

82.

Please Please Please

James Brown And His Famous Flames

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

95 charts

Rank Score:

545

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,814

Average Rating:

74 (66 votes)

Comments:

83.

Bluejean Bop

Gene Vincent

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

85 charts

Rank Score:

534

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,863

Average Rating:

73 (75 votes)

Comments:

84.

Songs By Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke & Bumps Blackwell Orchestra

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

79 charts

Rank Score:

532

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,868

Average Rating:

75 (65 votes)

Comments:

85.

Ellington Uptown

Duke Ellington And His Orchestra

Year of Release:

1953

Appears in:

105 charts

Rank Score:

529

Rank in 1953:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,883

Average Rating:

77 (81 votes)

Comments:

86.

Misterioso
Live

The Thelonious Monk Quartet

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

78 charts

Rank Score:

501

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

3,002

Average Rating:

80 (71 votes)

Comments:

87.

Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George And Ira Gershwin Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

94 charts

Rank Score:

499

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

3,019

Average Rating:

78 (79 votes)

Comments:

88.

Calypso

Harry Belafonte

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

94 charts

Rank Score:

491

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

3,064

Average Rating:

71 (77 votes)

Comments:

89.

Soulville

Ben Webster

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

87 charts

Rank Score:

490

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

3,072

Average Rating:

79 (64 votes)

Comments:

90.

Ramblin' Man

Hank Williams

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

75 charts

Rank Score:

481

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

3,120

Average Rating:

75 (69 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 9 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	58	6%
1953	62	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	85	9%
1956	117	12%
1957	152	15%
1958	172	17%
1959	198	20%

Artist	Albums	%

Various Artists	18	2%
Billie Holiday	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	%

	779	78%
	39	4%
	32	3%
	26	3%
	21	2%
	12	1%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	943	94%
Yes	57	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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