Best Albums of the 1950s

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
YearAlbums 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.
19501225,226
19511414,238
19521506,923
19531946,689
195423011,094
195532514,934
195643332,484
195756545,534
195856841,496
195961182,054
Total3,339250,673

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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Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
221
Rank in 1956:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
220
Rank in 1956:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1952
Appears in:
Rank Score:
219
Rank in 1952:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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Year of Release:
1958
Appears in:
Rank Score:
218
Rank in 1958:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
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  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
218
Rank in 1957:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
218
Rank in 1956:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1950
Appears in:
Rank Score:
218
Rank in 1950:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1957
Appears in:
Rank Score:
215
Rank in 1957:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1959
Appears in:
Rank Score:
213
Rank in 1959:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Year of Release:
1956
Appears in:
Rank Score:
212
Rank in 1956:
Rank in 1950s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 1,000. Page 18 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%
Country Albums %


United States 781 78%
Mixed Nationality 39 4%
France 32 3%
United Kingdom 26 3%
Brazil 20 2%
Canada 12 1%
Austria 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%
Best Artists of 1986
1. The Smiths
2. Metallica
3. Paul Simon
4. Peter Gabriel
5. XTC
6. Talk Talk
7. Slayer
8. Beastie Boys
9. R.E.M.
10. Depeche Mode
11. Sonic Youth
12. Bon Jovi
13. Megadeth
14. Prince
15. Prince And The Revolution
16. Run-D.M.C.
17. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
18. Nick Cave
19. Iron Maiden
20. Genesis
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