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	124	5,300	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,068th)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,237	Genius Of Modern Music (2,769th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	150	6,942	Bird & Diz (1,981st)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	194	6,725	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,823rd)by Peggy Lee
1954	230	11,155	Chet Baker Sings (673rd)by Chet Baker
1955	326	14,930	In The Wee Small Hours (382nd)by Frank Sinatra
1956	435	32,546	Elvis Presley (365th)by Elvis Presley
1957	567	45,608	Blue Train (303rd)by John Coltrane
1958	570	41,518	Lady In Satin (564th)by Billie Holiday
1959	613	81,840	Kind Of Blue (38th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,350	250,801

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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541.

South Pacific
Soundtrack

Various Artists

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

542.

Kelly Blue

Wynton Kelly

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

16 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

543.

Bernstein: Symphonic Suite From On The Waterfront

Leonard Bernstein / New York Philharmonic

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

15 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

543

Overall Rank:

19,362

Average Rating:

74 (15 votes)

Comments:

544.

Chants Indiens Yaruro Du Vénézuela - Séance De Chamanisme

Various Artists

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

1 chart

Rank Score:

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

544

Overall Rank:

19,468

Average Rating:

74 (1 vote)

Comments:

545.

Hip Harp

Dorothy Ashby & Frank Wess

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

11 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

546.

Dave Van Ronk Sings Ballads, Blues, & A Spiritual

Dave Van Ronk

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

13 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

547.

Mingus Three

Charles Mingus With Hampton Hawes & Danny Richmond

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

17 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

547

Overall Rank:

19,506

Average Rating:

71 (14 votes)

Comments:

548.

School Days

Dizzy Gillespie

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

23 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

548

Overall Rank:

19,509

Average Rating:

73 (21 votes)

Comments:

549.

By The Light Of The Silvery Moon

Doris Day

Year of Release:

1953

Appears in:

20 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1953:

Rank in 1950s:

549

Overall Rank:

19,520

Average Rating:

67 (16 votes)

Comments:

550.

The World's Greatest Gospel Singer

Mahalia Jackson

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

14 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

550

Overall Rank:

19,530

Average Rating:

73 (11 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 55 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%
Sonny Rollins	15	2%
Frank Sinatra	15	2%
Ella Fitzgerald	13	1%
Sarah Vaughan	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 »

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Best Albums of 1955
1. In The Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra
2. Sarah Vaughan by Sarah Vaughan
3. Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley And His Comets
4. Julie Is Her Name by Julie London
5. Ramblin' Man by Hank Williams
6. Study In Brown by Clifford Brown & Max Roach
7. Shake, Rattle And Roll by Bill Haley And His Comets
8. Concert By The Sea by Erroll Garner
9. Dinah Jams by Dinah Washington
10. Lullabies Of Birdland by Ella Fitzgerald
11. Satch Plays Fats by Louis Armstrong
12. Blue Moods by Miles Davis
13. Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 by Wilhelm Furtwängler / Bayreuth Festpiele Orchester Und Chor
14. Diz And Getz by Stan Getz & Dizzy Gillespie
15. Les And Mary by Les Paul & Mary Ford
16. Helen Merrill by Helen Merrill
17. Lennie Tristano by Lennie Tristano
18. Sarah Vaughan In Hi-Fi by Sarah Vaughan
19. Lotte Lenya Singt Kurt Weill by Lotte Lenya
20. Hamp & Getz by Stan Getz / Lionel Hampton