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	125	5,249	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,137th)by Yma Sumac
1951	142	4,226	Genius Of Modern Music (2,781st)by Thelonious Monk
1952	153	6,991	Bird & Diz (1,949th)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	197	6,738	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,812th)by Peggy Lee
1954	232	11,105	Chet Baker Sings (681st)by Chet Baker
1955	342	14,924	In The Wee Small Hours (380th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	454	32,516	Elvis Presley (352nd)by Elvis Presley
1957	583	45,600	Blue Train (294th)by John Coltrane
1958	599	41,452	Lady In Satin (558th)by Billie Holiday
1959	644	81,519	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,471	250,320

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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561.

Chico Hamilton Quintet Featuring Buddy Collette

Chico Hamilton Quintet

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

14 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

561

Overall Rank:

20,067

Average Rating:

75 (21 votes)

Comments:

562.

Sonny Rollins Quartet

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

12 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

562

Overall Rank:

20,073

Average Rating:

73 (11 votes)

Comments:

563.

Modern Art

Art Farmer

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

13 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

564.

The Many Sides Of Toshiko

Toshiko Akiyoshi

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

8 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

564

Overall Rank:

20,169

Average Rating:

71 (8 votes)

Comments:

565.

Thelonious In Action
Live

Thelonious Monk Quartet & Johnny Griffin

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

18 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

566.

Here's Larry Williams

Larry Williams

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

9 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

567.

Swingin' Easy

Sarah Vaughan

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

23 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

567

Overall Rank:

20,272

Average Rating:

75 (27 votes)

Comments:

568.

Harmonica & Vocal Solos

Sonny Terry

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

11 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

568

Overall Rank:

20,274

Average Rating:

71 (10 votes)

Comments:

569.

Sings And Plays With Bud Shank, Russ Freeman And Strings

Chet Baker

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

15 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

569

Overall Rank:

20,327

Average Rating:

70 (10 votes)

Comments:

570.

Songs To Grow On Volume One - Nursery Days

Woody Guthrie

Year of Release:

1950

Appears in:

11 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1950:

Rank in 1950s:

570

Overall Rank:

20,385

Average Rating:

65 (9 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 57 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	40	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	59	6%
1953	63	6%
1954	76	8%
1955	82	8%
1956	116	12%
1957	154	15%
1958	172	17%
1959	198	20%

Artist	Albums	%

Billie Holiday	18	2%
Various Artists	17	2%
Miles Davis	16	2%
Sonny Rollins	15	2%
Frank Sinatra	15	2%
Ella Fitzgerald	13	1%
Elvis Presley	11	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	777	78%
	36	4%
	34	3%
	27	3%
	19	2%
	13	1%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	943	94%
Yes	57	6%

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

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	977	98%
Yes	23	2%

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

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