Same as It Ever Was is the second album by American hip hop group House of Pain. It was released in 1994 and peaked at number 12 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Billboard 200.[1] To record the album, the group had to work around Everlast's house arrest for a gun charge.[2] The clean version of the second song from the album, "I'm a Swing It", was featured in the 2001 skateboarding video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.
Same as It Ever Was did not reach the same commercial heights as the group's previous album; however, Same as It Ever Was peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard 200 chart (their highest position to date) and also reached gold status by Recording Industry Association of America.[11]
AllMusic gave it four out five stars.[3] Matt Carlson of The Michigan Daily found the album quite good and noted "the music is laid back with some heavy driving forces underlying and strengthening it".[12] Andrew Love of The Ocala Star-Banner gave it four stars saying "this is a band that has definitely progressed over the course of one album".[2] J.D. Constantine of The Baltimore Sun did not like the album and found it monotonous and unimaginative.[13] Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant said that while finding the continuity monotonous it's "hard and compelling" as well as a "strong outing".[14] Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A− and described it as "the hardest hip hop of the year."