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 54,000 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	126	5,257	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,147th)by Yma Sumac
1951	142	4,239	Genius Of Modern Music (2,801st)by Thelonious Monk
1952	155	6,474	Bird & Diz (1,956th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	197	6,717	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,820th)by Peggy Lee
1954	233	11,060	Chet Baker Sings (682nd)by Chet Baker
1955	342	14,943	In The Wee Small Hours (381st)by Frank Sinatra
1956	456	32,647	Elvis Presley (352nd)by Elvis Presley
1957	586	45,666	Blue Train (295th)by John Coltrane
1958	603	41,831	Lady In Satin (547th)by Billie Holiday
1959	649	81,752	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,489	250,584

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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991.

Tanganyika Strut

Wilbur Harden

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

992.

The Stylings Of Silver

Horace Silver

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

11 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

993.

Blues And Haikus

Jack Kerouac Featuring Al Cohn And Zoot Sims

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

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Average Rating:

Comments:

993.

Sing A Song Of Basie

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

3 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

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Average Rating:

Comments:

995.

Gerry Mulligan Quartet (1953)

Gerry Mulligan Quartet

Year of Release:

1953

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1953:

Rank in 1950s:

995

Overall Rank:

35,089

Average Rating:

72 (4 votes)

Comments:

996.

Plays Pretty

Oscar Peterson

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

9 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

996

Overall Rank:

35,091

Average Rating:

69 (8 votes)

Comments:

997.

Canto De Amor À Bahia E Quatro Acalantos De "Grabriela, Cravo E Canela"

Dorival Caymmi & Jorge Amado

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

2 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

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Average Rating:

Comments:

998.

Carmen Jones (From The Original Sound Track)
Soundtrack

Various Artists

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

6 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

998

Overall Rank:

35,179

Average Rating:

72 (6 votes)

Comments:

999.

Cowboy Ballads

Cisco Houston

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

8 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

999

Overall Rank:

35,205

Average Rating:

74 (4 votes)

Comments:

1000.

All Mornin' Long

The Red Garland Quintet

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

11 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 100 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	58	6%
1953	62	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	82	8%
1956	116	12%
1957	154	15%
1958	174	17%
1959	198	20%

Artist	Albums	%

Billie Holiday	18	2%
Miles Davis	16	2%
Sonny Rollins	15	2%
Frank Sinatra	15	2%
Various Artists	14	1%
Ella Fitzgerald	13	1%
Sarah Vaughan	11	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	780	78%
	34	3%
	33	3%
	27	3%
	19	2%
	13	1%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	944	94%
Yes	56	6%

Live?	Albums	%
No	962	96%
Yes	38	4%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	976	98%
Yes	24	2%

« View best albums of the 1940sView best albums of the 1960s »

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Best Artists of the 1960s
1. The Beatles
2. The Velvet Underground
3. Jimi Hendrix
4. Bob Dylan
5. The Beach Boys
6. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
7. The Velvet Underground & Nico
8. Led Zeppelin
9. The Doors
10. The Rolling Stones
11. John Coltrane
12. King Crimson
13. Frank Zappa
14. The Kinks
15. Love
16. Van Morrison
17. Neil Young
18. Charles Mingus
19. Miles Davis
20. The Zombies