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Meaning
The title is a reference to the Doomsday Clock, where "Minutes to Midnight" is a measure of the proximity of the world to nuclear destruction. At the time of the title's announcement, the clock stood at 5 minutes to midnight. Mike Shinoda has explained that the album has various meanings:

"Don't take that at face value. There are layers of meaning, most are metaphoric...It’s definitely a reference to the doomsday clock—the Apocalypse—a metaphor for death and rebirth, but it could also be applied to the music industry, sort of tongue-in-cheek."

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Release
The album was delayed multiple times, first scheduled for summer 2006, then fall 2006, then early 2007, and now May 14, 2007. In an interview in September 2006, Shinoda explained, "When songs are pouring out you don't ever want to stop that. We already have over 100 roughs for songs. We've narrowed it down since but we're not ready to commit to those yet." From the early demo sessions, "Qwerty", which was rumored to be on Minutes to Midnight, has appeared on the Linkin Park Underground v6.0 CD on December 5, 2006 in both live and studio demo versions. It has been confirmed that "Qwerty" and the other songs on the LPU CD will not appear on the new album.

"This was a year-and-a-half long process of really hard work and experimentation in the studio that yielded about 150 rough songs," guitarist Brad Delson told Billboard.com. "Not only is this album incredibly diverse, but the depth of the material is really strong."

The first single, "What I've Done", was released on April 2, 2007.

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Musical style
In a recent interview with MTV.com, Chester Bennington explained that the nu metal sound from their previous albums is completely gone. He also stated that the new album is a mix of punk, classic rock, and hip-hop beats.

In the December issue of Blender magazine, Chester talked a little bit about the sound of the upcoming album, "Rick has brought more of a stripped down, classic-rock and hip-hop kind of feel. We're using vintage guitars and drums carved out of wood and skin for a more tribal sound. It's definitely not nu metal."

In an interview with Brazilian paper Folhateen, Chester confirmed that the 'rap/rock', 'nu-metal' sound that Linkin Park came to be known for, is almost non-existent on the new album, "This time around, Mike [Shinoda] is singing a lot more. It may seem like he's not on the record, but he's doing a lot of the harmonics. He also sings a couple of songs alone. We're presenting ourselves in a different way. We've had a hair cut, clothing changes and, here it is, here is a new thing."

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Track listing
1."Wake"
2."Given Up"
3."Leave Out All the Rest"
4."Bleed It Out"
5."Shadow of the Day"
6."What I've Done" – 3:28
7."Hands Held High"
8."No More Sorrow"
9."Valentine's Day"
10."In Between"
11."In Pieces"
12."The Little Things Give You Away"