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	5,222	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,063rd)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,238	Genius Of Modern Music (2,773rd)by Thelonious Monk
1952	150	6,926	Bird & Diz (1,981st)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	194	6,683	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,846th)by Peggy Lee
1954	230	11,114	Chet Baker Sings (675th)by Chet Baker
1955	325	14,934	In The Wee Small Hours (381st)by Frank Sinatra
1956	433	32,553	Elvis Presley (364th)by Elvis Presley
1957	566	45,625	Blue Train (303rd)by John Coltrane
1958	568	41,542	Lady In Satin (564th)by Billie Holiday
1959	611	81,904	Kind Of Blue (38th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,340	250,742

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.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

11.

Lady In Satin

Billie Holiday

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

350 charts

Rank Score:

3,168

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

564

Average Rating:

79 (360 votes)

Comments:

12.

Songs For Swingin' Lovers!

Frank Sinatra

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

307 charts

Rank Score:

2,961

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

598

Average Rating:

79 (364 votes)

Comments:

13.

Brilliant Corners

Thelonious Monk

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

361 charts

Rank Score:

2,916

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

610

Average Rating:

81 (368 votes)

Comments:

14.

Somethin' Else

Cannonball Adderley

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

328 charts

Rank Score:

2,851

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

623

Average Rating:

82 (301 votes)

Comments:

15.

Saxophone Colossus

Sonny Rollins

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

355 charts

Rank Score:

2,722

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

660

Average Rating:

81 (371 votes)

Comments:

16.

Chet Baker Sings

Chet Baker

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

254 charts

Rank Score:

2,674

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

675

Average Rating:

79 (241 votes)

Comments:

17.

The "Chirping" Crickets

The Crickets

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

302 charts

Rank Score:

2,648

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

683

Average Rating:

78 (315 votes)

Comments:

18.

Buddy Holly

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

293 charts

Rank Score:

2,548

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

710

Average Rating:

79 (260 votes)

Comments:

19.

Birth Of The Cool
Compilation

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

352 charts

Rank Score:

2,454

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

732

Average Rating:

80 (455 votes)

Comments:

20.

Moanin' In The Moonlight
Compilation

Howlin' Wolf

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

293 charts

Rank Score:

2,400

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

745

Average Rating:

80 (290 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
4
...
99
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 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%
	32	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 »

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Recognised Year Charts (2023)
1. Top 10 Albums of the Year 2023 by Bleep (2023)
2. Top 40 Albums of 2023 by Decibel (2023)
3. The Needle Drop's Top 50 Albums of 2023 by The Needle Drop (2023)
4. KCRW's Best Albums of 2023 by KCRW (2023)
5. Albums Of The Year 2023 by Rough Trade (2023)
6. Best Albums of 2023 by Norman Records (2023)
7. Louder Than War Albums Of 2023 by Louder Than War (2023)
8. Exclaim!'s 50 Best Albums of 2023 by Exclaim! (2023)
9. The Best Albums of 2023 by The Ringer (2023)
10. Top 50 Albums Of 2023 by Rock Sound (2023)
11. The 20 best albums of 2023 by Dazed (2023)
12. 30 Best Albums of 2023 by Revolver (2023)
13. NME Albums Of The Year 2023 by New Music Express (2023)
14. The 20 Best Albums of 2023 by Esquire (2023)
15. The Best Albums of 2023 by FLOOD Magazine (2023)
16. Quietus Albums Of The Year 2023 by The Quietus (2023)
17. The 100 Best Albums of 2023 by Rolling Stone (2023)
18. BrooklynVegan's Top 55 Albums of 2023 by BrooklynVegan (2023)
19. Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2023 by Under The Radar by Under The Radar (2023)
20. The 10 Best Global Music Albums Of 2023 by PopMatters (2023)