Production was handled by vocalist Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin, who both co-produced the band's previous two studio albums, Minutes to Midnight (2007) and A Thousand Suns (2010).

The band states that Living Things combines elements from their previous four studio albums to create a new sound.

They stated they finally felt they were in "familiar territory" and "comfortable in [their] own skin" after years of experimentation that resulted in their two previous studio albums, Minutes to Midnight and A Thousand Suns.

Living Things debuted at number one on Billboard 200 with sales of 223,000 copies in the United States in its opening week.

"[6] The band's co-lead vocalist and rapper, Mike Shinoda, and Rick Rubin served as producers for the album.

Bennington also said that the new album's lyrics would be personal and avoid being political, adding "We've been writing a lot about relationships.

"[2][17] Bennington and Shinoda echoed similar statements during an interview with Spin, with the former commenting that "We now know we have the skills and the tools to take those ideas and make them into what we're actually looking for, as opposed to getting into it and discovering that it just sounds really nü-metal.

[1] Bennington told Live 105 that the band is "embracing everything that [they] have done in the past," taking the "best pieces" of their previous four albums and "smash[ing] them together into this new record.

"[8] Shinoda explained in an interview with NME that the album would not return to their nu metal sound, however he assured that the record "gets back to our roots and it's captured a feeling that we haven't gone after in many years.

[27] The band's concert at the Admiralspalast Theatre in Berlin, Germany was recorded and was shown in theaters on June 25, 2012, for one night only.

[29] On July 23, 2012, Linkin Park announced they would be touring South Africa for the first time, performing in Johannesburg and Cape Town in November 2012.

[33] The band teamed up with the Lotus F1 team to create a musical racing iPad app titled Linkin Park GP, where players drive a Lotus E20 and interact with an environment that allows the player to create a remix of "Burn It Down", as well as zooming into individual sections of the song.

[44] On the same day, "Lies Greed Misery" was featured in a trailer for the video game Medal of Honor: Warfighter, that was revealed by Electronic Arts at E3 2012.

[49] The music video was directed by Timur Bekmambetov, director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

"[66] Chad Childers of Loudwire stated that "the album as a whole continues to expand their world-view writing like what listeners got with A Thousand Suns, but it also adds more of the anger that was prevalent in their earliest work, Hybrid Theory.

"[71] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic declared that "there is definition to their structure, some of the choruses catch hold without too much effort – but this album remains one of sustained mood, not individual moments" and concludes that the album is "a fitting soundtrack for aging rap-rockers who are comfortable in their skin but restless at heart".

[67] The Guardian writer Dave Simpson observed that "Living Things is more personal than A Thousand Suns, with underlying themes of recovery from traumatic experiences.

The exception, Burn It Down, delivers an antiwar sentiment via Depeche Mode-y electro-bounce, while the similarly standout Roads Untraveled is an eerie confessional ballad", and concluded that "Living Things would have benefited from more of such adventure, but they still sound like a band enjoying an unexpected second life".

The synthesizers are a bit too intent to Coldplay mode, but assume that the band felt it was time to conquer the charts again.

"[76] PopMatters' Jordan Blum concluded that "Living Things is a very good entry that’s simply not as special as its precursor.

[73] Tim Grierson at About.com stated that Living Things is "a straightforward collection that plays to their rap-rock strengths, and while it’s often musically engaging, these 12 songs don’t have enough cumulative impact.

Club, Evan Rytlewski commented that the band "can dial down (or turn back up) the heaviness all it wants, recruit the most Grammy-proven producers, and keep current with the latest electronic textures, but those moves can only take Linkin Park so far when its songs have all the emotional range of an MMA bout".

[68] Another mixed review from Hamish MacBain at NME stated that "...their foray into said genre here is restricted to the three minutes of ‘Castle of Glass’.

The album was released by Linkin Park after Shinoda heard all the remixes of their songs by other producers, and it was confirmed on their official website.