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 53,000 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	122	5,226	Voice Of The Xtabay (2,069th)by Yma Sumac
1951	141	4,238	Genius Of Modern Music (2,771st)by Thelonious Monk
1952	150	6,928	Bird & Diz (1,982nd)by Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie
1953	194	6,689	Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1,841st)by Peggy Lee
1954	230	11,099	Chet Baker Sings (679th)by Chet Baker
1955	325	14,941	In The Wee Small Hours (381st)by Frank Sinatra
1956	433	32,515	Elvis Presley (364th)by Elvis Presley
1957	565	45,562	Blue Train (304th)by John Coltrane
1958	568	41,534	Lady In Satin (564th)by Billie Holiday
1959	611	82,059	Kind Of Blue (38th)by Miles Davis
Total	3,339	250,790

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.

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

Kind Of Blue

Miles Davis

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

1,611 charts

Rank Score:

24,977

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

89 (2,214 votes)

Comments:

166

Mingus Ah Um

Charles Mingus

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

643 charts

Rank Score:

7,406

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

228

Average Rating:

84 (709 votes)

Comments:

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

633 charts

Rank Score:

6,618

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

571 charts

Rank Score:

5,970

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

304

Average Rating:

84 (648 votes)

Comments:

Elvis Presley

Year of Release:

1956

Appears in:

577 charts

Rank Score:

4,973

Rank in 1956:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

364

Average Rating:

79 (747 votes)

Comments:

In The Wee Small Hours

Frank Sinatra

Year of Release:

1955

Appears in:

475 charts

Rank Score:

4,713

Rank in 1955:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

381

Average Rating:

80 (633 votes)

Comments:

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

Year of Release:

1957

Appears in:

411 charts

Rank Score:

3,975

Rank in 1957:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

452

Average Rating:

79 (480 votes)

Comments:

The Shape Of Jazz To Come

Ornette Coleman

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

414 charts

Rank Score:

3,896

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

459

Average Rating:

81 (498 votes)

Comments:

Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

372 charts

Rank Score:

3,543

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

507

Average Rating:

83 (354 votes)

Comments:

10.

Berry Is On Top

Chuck Berry

Year of Release:

1959

Appears in:

346 charts

Rank Score:

3,178

Rank in 1959:

Rank in 1950s:

Overall Rank:

563

Average Rating:

80 (310 votes)

Comments:

« prev
1
2
3
4
...
99
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1950s composition

Year	Albums	%

1950	39	4%
1951	40	4%
1952	58	6%
1953	62	6%
1954	77	8%
1955	87	9%
1956	116	12%
1957	152	15%
1958	173	17%
1959	196	20%

Artist	Albums	%

Various Artists	19	2%
Billie Holiday	18	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	%

	781	78%
	39	4%
	32	3%
	26	3%
	20	2%
	12	1%
	11	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	942	94%
Yes	58	6%

Live?	Albums	%
No	963	96%
Yes	37	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.

Recent Member Charts
1. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s by Jamie (2024)
2. Top 25 Music Albums of 2024 by joathome (2024)
3. Top 100 Music Albums of 1970 by Tamthebam (2024)
4. Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s by Jamie (2024)
5. Top 18 Music Albums of 2009 by Mrump (2024)
6. Top 32 Music Albums of 2021 by drstuey (2024)
7. Top 70 Music Albums of 2024 by LedZep (2024)
8. Dylan covers 4da: US (Minor Artists) by Moondance (2024)
9. Dylan covers 6: German artists by Moondance (2024)
10. Dylan Covers 4:Every Song 1973 - xxxx by US artists by Moondance (2024)
11. Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s by LedZep (2024)
12. Top 42 Music Albums of 1990 by joathome (2024)
13. Top 34 Music Albums of 1989 by joathome (2024)
14. Top 46 Music Albums of 2023 by Purplepash (2024)
15. Top 86 Music Albums of 2024 by AranD (2024)
16. RockdeLux Discos nacionales 1996 by cicadelic (2024)
17. Top 36 Music Albums of 2023 by migl (2024)
18. Top 45 Music Albums of 2021 by MaxStorm98 (2024)
19. Top 100 Music Albums of 2022 by PapaShiz86 (2024)
20. Top 23 Music Albums of 2024 by LittleM1971 (2024)