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	124	5,304	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,066th)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,237	Genius Of Modern Music (2,768th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	150	6,942	Bird & Diz (1,980th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	194	6,724	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,824th)by Peggy Lee
1954	230	11,153	Chet Baker Sings (671st)by Chet Baker
1955	326	14,928	In The Wee Small Hours (382nd)by Frank Sinatra
1956	435	32,545	Elvis Presley (365th)by Elvis Presley
1957	567	45,617	Blue Train (303rd)by John Coltrane
1958	570	41,510	Lady In Satin (563rd)by Billie Holiday
1959	613	81,807	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,350	250,766

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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61.

Ritchie Valens

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

89 charts

Rank Score:

670

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,387

Average Rating:

75 (78 votes)

Comments:

62.

Chet

Chet Baker

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

86 charts

Rank Score:

667

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,395

Average Rating:

79 (73 votes)

Comments:

63.

Music Of India (Three Classical Ragas)

Ravi Shankar

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

82 charts

Rank Score:

656

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,427

Average Rating:

77 (77 votes)

Comments:

64.

Johnny Burnette And The Rock N' Roll Trio

Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'n Roll Trio

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

84 charts

Rank Score:

637

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,481

Average Rating:

76 (70 votes)

Comments:

65.

Jazz In Silhouette

Sun Ra And His Arkestra

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

110 charts

Rank Score:

634

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,489

Average Rating:

80 (99 votes)

Comments:

66.

Julie Is Her Name

Julie London

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

94 charts

Rank Score:

623

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,524

Average Rating:

76 (94 votes)

Comments:

67.

The Clown

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

115 charts

Rank Score:

618

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,540

Average Rating:

79 (125 votes)

Comments:

68.

Monk's Music

Thelonious Monk Septet

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

122 charts

Rank Score:

616

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,546

Average Rating:

78 (118 votes)

Comments:

69.

Moanin' The Blues

Hank Williams

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

97 charts

Rank Score:

603

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,585

Average Rating:

76 (77 votes)

Comments:

70.

Go Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

99 charts

Rank Score:

601

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

2,594

Average Rating:

74 (83 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 7 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	58	6%
1953	62	6%
1954	77	8%
1955	86	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%
Sonny Rollins	15	2%
Frank Sinatra	15	2%
Ella Fitzgerald	13	1%
Sarah Vaughan	11	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	780	78%
	40	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 »

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