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	5,248	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,138th)by Yma Sumac
1951	142	4,226	Genius Of Modern Music (2,781st)by Thelonious Monk
1952	153	7,017	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	11,100	Chet Baker Sings (681st)by Chet Baker
1955	342	14,925	In The Wee Small Hours (380th)by Frank Sinatra
1956	454	32,513	Elvis Presley (352nd)by Elvis Presley
1957	583	45,569	Blue Train (294th)by John Coltrane
1958	601	41,579	Lady In Satin (558th)by Billie Holiday
1959	644	81,515	Kind Of Blue (37th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,473	250,431

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.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

651.

Primitiva

Martin Denny

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

7 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

652.

Day By Day

Doris Day

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

16 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

652

Overall Rank:

23,196

Average Rating:

70 (15 votes)

Comments:

653.

Volume IV
Live

The Ahmad Jamal Trio

Year of Release:

1958

Appears in:

8 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1958:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

654.

Dave Brubeck Octet

The Dave Brubeck Octet

Year of Release:

1950

Appears in:

16 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1950:

Rank in 1950s:

654

Overall Rank:

23,213

Average Rating:

70 (12 votes)

Comments:

655.

Crew Cut Capers

The Crew Cuts

Year of Release:

1954

Appears in:

12 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1954:

Rank in 1950s:

655

Overall Rank:

23,218

Average Rating:

70 (9 votes)

Comments:

656.

Get On Board: Negro Folksongs By The Folkmasters

Sonny Terry / Brownie McGhee / Coyal McMahan

Year of Release:

1952

Appears in:

12 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1952:

Rank in 1950s:

656

Overall Rank:

23,259

Average Rating:

74 (9 votes)

Comments:

657.

Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra

Herbert von Karajan / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

7 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

658.

The Birth Of A Band!

Quincy Jones

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

11 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

659.

Great Times!

Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn

Year of Release:

1950

Appears in:

14 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1950:

Rank in 1950s:

659

Overall Rank:

23,360

Average Rating:

69 (11 votes)

Comments:

660.

Webb Pierce

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

10 charts

Rank Score:

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

660

Overall Rank:

23,385

Average Rating:

70 (11 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
...
65
66
67
...
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 66 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%
Sarah Vaughan	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 »

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Popular Charts
1. The Top 100 Albums by VH1 (2001)
2. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone (2020)
3. 100 Best Albums - 2024 Edition by Apple Music (2024)
4. 200 Greatest Albums of All Time by Uncut (2016)
5. The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time by New Music Express (2013)
6. The Definitive 200 by National Association of Recording Merchandisers (2007)
7. Virgin All-Time Top 1000 Albums by Virgin (2000)
8. Top 100 Albums by ABC (2006)
9. The 100 Greatest Albums Of All Time by Absolute Radio (2012)
10. Die 100 besten Alben der Musikgeschichte by radioeins (2019)
11. Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Melody Maker (2000)
12. Greatest 100 Albums of All Time by The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums with NME (2006)
13. Mojo Readers: The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made by Mojo (1996)
14. Die 20 besten Alben der Geschichte by Musikexpress.de (2011)
15. Die 100 besten Platten des Jahrhunderts by Wiener (1999)
16. The Greatest Rock Albums by uDiscoverMusic (2015)
17. 100 Greatest Albums Ever by Q (2006)
18. The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time (1-100) by Paste (2024)
19. Die 100 Alben des Jahrhunderts by Spex (2000)
20. Los 48 mejores discos de la historia by Esquire España (2022)