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	5,229	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,061st)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,247	Genius Of Modern Music (2,763rd)by Thelonious Monk
1952	150	6,937	Bird & Diz (1,987th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	194	6,692	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,835th)by Peggy Lee
1954	230	11,101	Chet Baker Sings (677th)by Chet Baker
1955	325	14,931	In The Wee Small Hours (380th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	433	32,452	Elvis Presley (364th)by Elvis Presley
1957	565	45,490	Blue Train (301st)by John Coltrane
1958	567	41,489	Lady In Satin (563rd)by Billie Holiday
1959	609	82,013	Kind Of Blue (38th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,336	250,581

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:

1,611 charts

Rank Score:

24,971

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (2,213 votes)

Comments:

166

Mingus Ah Um

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

643 charts

Rank Score:

7,407

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

227

Average Rating:

84 (709 votes)

Comments:

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

633 charts

Rank Score:

6,594

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

571 charts

Rank Score:

5,984

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

301

Average Rating:

84 (647 votes)

Comments:

Elvis Presley

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

577 charts

Rank Score:

4,978

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

364

Average Rating:

79 (747 votes)

Comments:

In The Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatra

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

474 charts

Rank Score:

4,713

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

380

Average Rating:

80 (633 votes)

Comments:

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

411 charts

Rank Score:

3,977

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

450

Average Rating:

79 (480 votes)

Comments:

The Shape Of Jazz To Come

Ornette Coleman

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

414 charts

Rank Score:

3,889

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

461

Average Rating:

81 (498 votes)

Comments:

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

371 charts

Rank Score:

3,547

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

508

Average Rating:

83 (354 votes)

Comments:

10.

Berry Is On Top

Chuck Berry

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

346 charts

Rank Score:

3,179

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

562

Average Rating:

80 (310 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 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%
	30	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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