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 55,000 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	131	5,291	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,174th)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,291	Genius Of Modern Music (2,760th)by Thelonious Monk
1952	156	6,563	Bird & Diz (1,964th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	198	6,694	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,823rd)by Peggy Lee
1954	238	11,200	Chet Baker Sings (679th)by Chet Baker
1955	345	15,187	In The Wee Small Hours (378th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	464	32,969	Elvis Presley (348th)by Elvis Presley
1957	590	39,816	Here's Little Richard (424th)by Little Richard
1958	611	48,398	Blue Train (327th)by John Coltrane
1959	657	82,234	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,531	252,642

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.

Mahler: Symphony No. 1

Bruno Walter / New York Philharmonic

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

4 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

991

Overall Rank:

34,573

Average Rating:

75 (2 votes)

Comments:

992.

Six Montreal Poets

A.J.M. Smith / Leonard Cohen / Irving Layton / F.R. Scott / Louis Dudek / A.M. Klein

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

2 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

993.

Moby Dick (Music From The Sound Track)
Soundtrack

Philip Sainton

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

3 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

994.

Una Voz Y Una Guitarra

Atahualpa Yupanqui

Year of Release:

1953

Appears in:

2 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1953:

Rank in 1950s:

994

Overall Rank:

34,643

Average Rating:

70 (2 votes)

Comments:

995.

4, 5, And 6

Jackie McLean

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

7 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

996.

Newport 1958

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

6 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

997.

Miles Davis Quartet

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

7 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

997

Overall Rank:

34,750

Average Rating:

72 (10 votes)

Comments:

998.

The Jazz Giants '56

Lester Young

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

6 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

999.

In Concert
Live

The Jazz Couriers

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

2 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

1000.

Gypsy

The Original Broadway Cast

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

9 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

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	41	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	56	6%
1953	61	6%
1954	75	8%
1955	83	8%
1956	116	12%
1957	153	15%
1958	177	18%
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	%

	782	78%
	35	4%
	32	3%
	27	3%
	18	2%
	12	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%

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