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 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.
Year 1950	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 131	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 5,291	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart. Voice Of The Xtabay (2,175th)by Yma Sumac
Year 1951	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 141	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 4,291	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart. Genius Of Modern Music (2,760th)by Thelonious Monk
Year 1952	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 156	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 6,563	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart. Bird & Diz (1,964th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
Year 1953	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 198	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 6,694	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart. Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,824th)by Peggy Lee
Year 1954	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 238	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 11,200	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart. Chet Baker Sings (679th)by Chet Baker
Year 1955	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 345	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 15,187	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart. In The Wee Small Hours (378th)by Frank Sinatra
Year 1956	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 464	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 32,969	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart. Elvis Presley (348th)by Elvis Presley
Year 1957	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 590	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 39,816	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart. Here's Little Richard (424th)by Little Richard
Year 1958	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 611	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 48,398	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart. Blue Train (327th)by John Coltrane
Year 1959	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 657	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 82,234	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart. Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Year Total	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts. 3,531	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year) 252,642	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart.

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:

34,574

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:

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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:

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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:

34,647

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:

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Average Rating:

Comments:

996.

Newport 1958

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

6 charts

Rank Score:

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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:

34,754

Average Rating:

72 (10 votes)

Comments:

998.

The Jazz Giants '56

Lester Young

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

6 charts

Rank Score:

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Average Rating:

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999.

In Concert
Live

The Jazz Couriers

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

2 charts

Rank Score:

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Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

1000.

Gypsy

The Original Broadway Cast

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

9 charts

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Rank in 1950s:

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Average Rating:

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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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