Eon Productions invited the singer to work on the theme song in early 2011, a task that Adele accepted after reading the film's script.

While composing the song, Adele and Epworth aimed to capture the mood and style of the other Bond themes, including dark and moody lyrics descriptive of the film's plot.

"Skyfall" was praised for its lyrics, production and Adele's vocal performance, with numerous music critics and publications ranking it among the best Bond themes.

[2] Adele, who had just released her second album, 21, admitted that initially she was a "little hesitant" about agreeing to write a Bond theme song.

[5] Adele left the meeting with the script of Skyfall and upon reading it, decided that it was a "no-brainer", as she "fell in love" with the film's plot.

[8][9] After Adele underwent throat microsurgery for vocal problems, she recorded a demo of the track and sent it to Mendes, who was doing the principal photography of Skyfall.

The director in turn played the demo for film producer Barbara Broccoli and Bond actor Daniel Craig, both of whom "shed a tear".

[6][11][12] Epworth stated that although "Skyfall" is an original composition, he and Adele had worked to capture "the James Bond feeling" of previous theme songs.

Epworth identified as a uniting factor "a minor ninth as the harmonic code ... the Bond songs, they have that elaboration to it" and wrote what would become the instrumental part of "Skyfall".

[9][13] The chordal structure of the chorus of "Skyfall" was originally composed by American artist Matthew Shelly, as part of a prog-rock composition entitled "Failing Grace", a track from the album "Pain", released in 1991.

[2] The Daily Telegraph writer Neil McCormick described the lyrics as "slightly sinister" and containing references to a number of Bond tropes and motifs.

[20] In September 2012, OneRepublic vocalist Ryan Tedder posted a message on Twitter claiming he had heard the title track and that it was "the best James Bond theme in his lifetime".

[27] Wilson and Broccoli still asked composer Thomas Newman to include a reference to "Skyfall" in the film's score "so that it didn't appear as a kind of 'one off' at the top of the movie".

Newman opted to include an interpolation in the track "Komodo Dragon", used in a scene where Bond enters a casino in Macau.

[30] The Huffington Post described the song as a "brassy and soulful tune [that] fits perfectly alongside the work of Shirley Bassey in the oeuvre of James Bond title tracks".

[31] RedEye gave the song four out of four stars and declared that it "is a return to form, and if it doesn't get you hyped for the movie, you're not a Bond fan".

[35] Consequence of Sound commented that "rousing instrumentation elevates the vocals to soaring heights",[36] while HitFix called the song a "majestic ballad" and a "classic James Bond theme".

[39] MTV was also positive, stating that "Adele's lush song fits right in with classics by Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney and Carly Simon".

Online wrote that Adele's song was "a cross, and a good one at that, between the 1971 Bassey classic and a more-focused version of Garbage's 'The World Is Not Enough'.

"[41] The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the song "instantly feels like a Bond theme, with the singer's sultry voice set against a minor chord progression.

Done in big, orchestral style, the mood – like the singer – is all 1960s throwback, back when Bond themes like 'Goldfinger' were smooth, seductive and larger than life".

[42] Jim Farber of the New York-based Daily News wrote in his review: "It suffers from a similarly meandering melody and ponderous progression.

The grandeur of its arrangement easily upstages the tune", but "even so, the luster of Adele's tone, and the bravura arc of her vocal, makes it enjoyable enough.

[50][51] Although "Skyfall" debuted at number 8, it was actually the third best-selling single in the US that week – the Hot 100 ranks songs based on sales, radio airplay, and online streaming.

[67] "Skyfall" was also named the Best Original Song by the film critics associations of Georgia,[68] Houston,[69] Las Vegas,[70] and Phoenix.