Adele's 13 singles ranked from worst to best: Which hit is our No.1? 

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Adele\'s 13 singles ranked from worst to best Adele\'s 13 singles ranked from worst to best

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As one of the most successful recording artists of the 21st century, it\'s odd to think that Adele has only released three albums to date. While her debut,

When she returned last year with her third album

it broke the US record for the most number of albums sold in one week, shifting 2.3 million copies and becoming the fastest-selling album of the 21st century and best-selling album of 2015, despite being released in November. 

In the UK alone, the album has nearly sold 3 million copies. Basically, Adele sells albums. But what about her singles? We\'ve looked back through the singer\'s discography to analyse which of her biggest songs is

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Released: April 21, 2008 • Chart peak: No.18

\'Cold Shoulder\' was the third single released from the singer\'s debut album

Produced by Mark Ronson, the track was a sign at the direction Adele was heading down, cinematic strings accompanying the throwback percussion that Ronson favoured back in 2008. The track features a rather psychedelic middle eight, before concluding with a chorus dripping in Adele\'s signature double punch of attitude-filled lyrics and stellar vocals.

Released: October 27, 2008 • Chart peak: No.4

Like Whitney\'s \'I Will Always Love You\' and \'I Have Nothing\', Aretha Franklin\'s \'(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman\' and John Lennon\'s \'Imagine\', Adele\'s cover version of Bob Dylan\'s \'Make You Feel My Love\' has been tarnished by repeated and poor imitations on TV talent shows. 

And, because of this, it can be hard to disassociate what Adele managed with this song; rather than simply covering a classic Dylan song, she added tones of light and shade, re-interpreting the lyrics to add agency to those moments that she related to. It\'s a testament to Adele\'s artistry that she\'s truly been able to make this song her own.

Released: January 14, 2008 • Chart peak: No.2

Although it wasn\'t the "song that started it all", \'Chasing Pavements\' was Adele\'s first proper hit on the Official Singles Chart, landing at number two in 2008. Similarly, the track gave Adele her first taste of Stateside success, cracking the coveted

 Hot 100, landing well inside the top 40 and selling a mammoth 1.2 million copies.

Released: November 5, 2011 • Chart peak: No.62

Co-written by Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic, \'Turning Tables\' was the fifth and last single released from Adele\'s monstrously successful second album

. Because of that it seems the song suffered in the charts, reaching number 62 in the UK. However, it\'s still one of the more arresting songs from the album, Adele\'s pained vocals conveying just the right amount of heartbreak.

Released: November 5, 2011 • Chart peak: No.85

, \'Rumour Has It\' is another Ryan Tedder co-write, and the prolific songwriter\'s touch can be felt throughout the track; stadium sized percussion and flecks of Tedder\'s signature gospel influence pepper the song, Adele\'s vocals growing in aggression throughout. Like \'Turning Tables\', \'Rumour Has It\' peaked at a disappointing 85 on the UK charts. However, it\'s not really a surprise, as four singles into this campaign, everyone and their dog had bought a copy of the album.

Released: July 4, 2011 • Chart peak: No.11

Not many people could pull off a Celine Dion sized power-ballad these days, but if \'Set Fire to the Rain\' is anything to go by, Adele certainly can. The overblown production and even more absurd lyrics feed into that great tradition of theatrics required to create the drama and emotion so inherent in the genre. Likewise, Adele\'s vocals are slowly pushed forward in the mix during the chorus, giving the song an even larger sense of self. It\'s all slightly ridiculous but, like Bonnie Tyler before her; it\'s the perfect scream-along-after-a-bottle-of-wine kind of song.

Released: May 16, 2016 • Chart peak: No.64

While we were initially disappointed that Adele\'s first collaboration with pop-maestro Max Martin wasn\'t the follow-up to Britney\'s \'Overprotected\' we were hoping for, \'Send My Love (To Your New Lover)\' is so discernibly different to anything either Max or Adele have produced that it\'s safe to say our appetites were satisfied. The vocal harmonies that are scattered throughout are rather brilliant, and there\'s something so typically Max Martin about that repeated guitar riff. It\'s not quite a banger, but it\'s fairly close.

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Released: October 5, 2012 • Chart peak: No.2

What is there to say about \'Skyfall\' apart from this is exactly what all Bond themes should sound like? Seriously though, what Adele and producer Paul Epworth achieved with \'Skyfall\' is quite something; it\'s the \'Goldfinger\' of our time. There\'s a reason that the track, which features a 77-piece-orchestra, is the only Bond theme to win at the Golden Globes, the BRIT awards and the Academy Awards (not to mention the Grammy it won, too).

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Released: January 22, 2016 • Chart peak: No.9

There is certainly something odd about a 28-year-old singing about a time when "she was young" given that she\'s not yet 30. But this lamentation on the loss of youth and the experience of growing up is anything but naïve. Perhaps this quality that makes Adele able to appeal to all ages; it\'s both universal and personal. 

Yes it\'s a bit jarring to hear the Tottenham-born singer cry out the word "movie" in a transatlantic accent, but it\'s forgivable given her global status. Also, we defy anyone to not be moved by that note at the end of the middle eight before the final chorus. What a moment.

Released: January 24, 2011 • Chart peak: No.1

This truly feels like the song that made Adele, well, Adele. The abject misery of the song\'s melancholic piano scales is only intensified by her vocal delivery, the singer sounding like she\'s trying to convince herself while delivering the triumphant cries of, "never mind, I\'ll find someone like you." 

emotional performance at the BRIT awards (both superior to the album version) helped propel the song to the top of the charts both in the UK and on the

Hot 100 in the US. In fact, the song has sold 6 million downloads in the US alone, and as of 2015 it is the third best-selling track of the 21st century. Quite right, too.

Released: October 23, 2015 • Chart peak: No.1

Has any song had as big an impact as \'Hello\' has in the last decade? We think not. From the teaser advert during the break on

 to the flip phone in the video, \'Hello\' was a legitimate global phenomenon. Luckily, it\'s also a total stonker of a song. The track sees Adele pair up with pop producer Greg Kurstin for a power ballad of epic proportions. The chorus is completely and utterly ludicrous (and totally amazing), and something that, really, only Adele could get away with. 

Given the anticipation for this song, it\'s no surprise that it became the fastest-viewed video in Vevo\'s history, knocking up 27.7 million plays in less than 24 hours and 1 billion views in just 88 days. Of course, it also debuted at Number One on the Official Singles Chart and the

Hot 100, too, and has gone on to sell well over 9 million copies worldwide.

Released: November 29, 2010 • Chart peak: No.2

\'Rolling in the Deep\' spent an incredible ten weeks inside the UK top 10, and was Adele\'s first US number one. The song went on to win both Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 2012 Grammy Awards, and has been covered by the likes of Linkin Park, Nicole Scherzinger and, of course, Aretha Franklin (amazing). 

The song\'s inherent anthemic quality is the perfect match for Adele\'s powerful voice that delivers the attitude and two fingers we\'ve come to love about the diva. It\'s the perfect song to scream at your ex (or just scream along to in general, really).

Released: October 22, 2007 • Chart peak: No.19

In 2008, \'Hometown Glory\' was the go-to song for the \'emotional-moment-in-a-TV-show\', featuring in everything from

It\'s bittersweet but incredibly moving, a perfect meditation on how simplicity can cause an impact. 

Unfortunately, it never quite managed to achieve the commercial success of its quasi-successor \'Someone Like You\', despite being re-released following Adele\'s signing to indie label XL and then peaking just inside the UK top 20 at number 19. Perhaps we should start a petition to get \'Hometown Glory\' to number one? #Justice4HometownGlory

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