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	5,229	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,061st)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,247	Genius Of Modern Music (2,764th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	150	6,937	Bird & Diz (1,986th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	194	6,692	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,835th)by Peggy Lee
1954	230	11,102	Chet Baker Sings (677th)by Chet Baker
1955	325	14,904	In The Wee Small Hours (380th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	433	32,454	Elvis Presley (364th)by Elvis Presley
1957	565	45,493	Blue Train (301st)by John Coltrane
1958	567	41,492	Lady In Satin (563rd)by Billie Holiday
1959	609	81,999	Kind Of Blue (38th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,336	250,551

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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861.

New Faces New Sounds

Lou Donaldson

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

8 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

861

Overall Rank:

30,493

Average Rating:

71 (8 votes)

Comments:

862.

The 25-Year Retrospective Concert Of The Music Of John Cage
Live

John Cage

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

10 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

863.

Sonny Rollins And Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk / Sonny Rollins

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

13 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

863

Overall Rank:

30,548

Average Rating:

70 (6 votes)

Comments:

864.

Safe Mode: On

Playboys

Chet Baker & Art Pepper

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

15 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

865.

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7

Arturo Toscanini / NBC Symphony Orchestra

Year of Release:

1951

Appears in:

9 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1951:

Rank in 1950s:

865

Overall Rank:

30,566

Average Rating:

73 (6 votes)

Comments:

866.

Scriabin: First Symphony In E Major, Op. 26

Nikolai Golovanov / The Great Symphony Orchestra Of The All-Union Radio And Central TV

Year of Release:

1953

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1953:

Rank in 1950s:

866

Overall Rank:

30,668

Average Rating:

71 (3 votes)

Comments:

867.

Camino Del Indio

Atahualpa Yupanqui

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

868.

Rachmaninov: Concerto No. 3

Eugene Ormandy / Philadelphia Orchestra / Sergei Rachmaninov

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

6 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

869.

Lee Konitz Plays With The Gerry Mulligan Quartet

Lee Konitz / Gerry Mulligan Quartet

Year of Release:

1953

Appears in:

11 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1953:

Rank in 1950s:

869

Overall Rank:

30,771

Average Rating:

72 (10 votes)

Comments:

870.

Dvořák: New World Symphony

Bruno Walter / Columbia Symphony Orchestra

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 87 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	39	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	58	6%
1953	62	6%
1954	77	8%
1955	87	9%
1956	116	12%
1957	152	15%
1958	173	17%
1959	196	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%
	30	3%
	26	3%
	20	2%
	12	1%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	942	94%
Yes	58	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 »

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