The church organ and military drumbeat on 'Hands Held High' were originally to be used as the backdrop to melodic vocals, but Rubin recommended that the band try the opposite approach according to the album booklet. Hahn contributes more with programming, electronics, and other elements to many of the songs. All scratching elements by Joe Hahn that existed in the previous two studio albums are largely absent because of the low mixing, except on the songs 'What I've Done', 'Wake', 'The Little Things Give You Away', 'Valentine's Day' and 'In Pieces'.

Shinoda and Delson teamed up with David Campbell to add string elements to six songs 'Leave Out All the Rest', 'Shadow of the Day', 'Hands Held High', 'The Little Things Give You Away', as well as the two b-sides 'No Roads Left' and 'Blackbirds' (which was instead later used in the iPhone game 8-Bit Rebellion! as well as being included as a bonus track for A Thousand Suns), respectively. In ' Given Up', he jingles the keys that are heard while several clap sounds are overlaid in the intro of the song (as mentioned in the lyric book: Brad added the sounds on the intro song: multiple tracks of claps - and keys jingling.). The band decided not to use the effect for the solo in that song and instead ended up creating 'No More Sorrow' out of the effect. Guitarist Brad Delson experimented with an EBow when the band was piecing together 'The Little Things Give You Away'. Rick Rubin ( left) and Linkin Park co-vocalist Mike Shinoda ( right) served as producers for Minutes to Midnight. Rolling Stone magazine, however, named it the twenty-fifth best album of 2007.

But despite its commercial success, Minutes to Midnight received mixed reviews from critics. It was ranked number 154 on Billboard's Hot 200 Albums of the Decade. It has sold more than four million copies in the US. It was also certified double platinum in New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, and Australia and certified platinum in Canada, France, Switzerland and in the UK. In the United States, the album had the biggest first week sales of 2007 at the time, with 623,000 albums sold, going on to be certified fourfold platinum in the United States. The album debuted at number one in the US Billboard 200 and in 15 other countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada. Eventually, ' What I've Done' was chosen as the album's lead single in April 2007, with the album seeing release in North America on May 15, 2007. The album's completion was delayed several times for unknown reasons. The band returned to work on the record afterward, taking on a different musical direction than the 2003 sessions while working with producer Rick Rubin. In this time period, the band formed numerous side projects Mike Shinoda formed his hip hop side project Fort Minor, while Chester Bennington formed Dead by Sunrise, both of which caused the album to be shelved temporarily. Linkin Park started working on their third studio album in 2003, taking a break to tour in support of Meteora in 2004.

It is also the band's first full-length album to carry a Parental Advisory label. Minutes to Midnight takes its title from the Doomsday Clock symbol.

For the band, the album marks a beginning of deviation from their signature nu metal sound. Minutes to Midnight is the band's follow-up album to Meteora (2003), and features a shift in the group's musical direction. The album was produced by Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, and it is Linkin Park's first studio album produced without Don Gilmore, who had produced the band's two previous albums. Minutes to Midnight is the third studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on May 14, 2007, through Warner Bros.

Linkn park leave out all the rest