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 54,000 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	5,241	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,118th)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,213	Genius Of Modern Music (2,785th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	153	6,991	Bird & Diz (1,964th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	195	6,741	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,815th)by Peggy Lee
1954	231	11,117	Chet Baker Sings (683rd)by Chet Baker
1955	339	14,963	In The Wee Small Hours (377th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	451	32,534	Elvis Presley (356th)by Elvis Presley
1957	577	45,514	Blue Train (303rd)by John Coltrane
1958	590	41,360	Lady In Satin (558th)by Billie Holiday
1959	637	81,441	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,439	250,116

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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Kind Of Blue

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

1,620 charts

Rank Score:

24,243

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (2,234 votes)

Comments:

168

Mingus Ah Um

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

644 charts

Rank Score:

7,290

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

232

Average Rating:

84 (714 votes)

Comments:

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

635 charts

Rank Score:

6,512

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

579 charts

Rank Score:

5,885

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

303

Average Rating:

84 (652 votes)

Comments:

Elvis Presley

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

578 charts

Rank Score:

4,977

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

356

Average Rating:

79 (752 votes)

Comments:

In The Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatra

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

480 charts

Rank Score:

4,737

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

377

Average Rating:

80 (636 votes)

Comments:

The Shape Of Jazz To Come

Ornette Coleman

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

419 charts

Rank Score:

4,044

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

443

Average Rating:

81 (500 votes)

Comments:

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

413 charts

Rank Score:

4,032

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

445

Average Rating:

79 (485 votes)

Comments:

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

374 charts

Rank Score:

3,555

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

505

Average Rating:

84 (358 votes)

Comments:

10.

Berry Is On Top

Chuck Berry

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

356 charts

Rank Score:

3,421

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

529

Average Rating:

80 (315 votes)

Comments:

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Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	59	6%
1953	63	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	82	8%
1956	116	12%
1957	153	15%
1958	173	17%
1959	198	20%

Artist	Albums	%

Billie Holiday	18	2%
Various Artists	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	%

	776	78%
	38	4%
	34	3%
	27	3%
	19	2%
	12	1%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	942	94%
Yes	58	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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