Same as It Ever Was

For other uses, see Same as It Ever Was (disambiguation).

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
Studio album by House of Pain
Released	June 28, 1994
Recorded	September 1992 – August 1993
Studio	Image Recording Studios (Hollywood, California)
Genre	Hardcore hip hop
Length	49:22
Label	Tommy Boy Warner Bros.
Producer	DJ Muggs (also exec.) DJ Lethal Diamond D The Baker Boyz
House of Pain chronology
House of Pain (1992) Same as It Ever Was (1994) Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise Again (1996)
Singles from Same as It Ever Was
"Who's the Man?" Released: 1993 "On Point" Released: 1994

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s	A-[4]
Entertainment Weekly	A[5]
NME	4/10[6]
RapReviews	7/10[7]
Sputnikmusic	2.5/5[8]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]
Tom Hull	B[10]

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."

Track listing

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Back from the Dead"	DJ Muggs Baka Boyz	3:32
2.	"I'm a Swing It"	DJ Lethal	3:43
3.	"All That"	DJ Lethal	1:26
4.	"On Point"	DJ Lethal	3:48
5.	"Runnin' up on Ya"	DJ Muggs	3:17
6.	"Over There Shit"	DJ Muggs	3:33
7.	"Word Is Bond" (featuring Diamond D)	Diamond D	4:02
8.	"Keep It Comin'"	DJ Muggs	3:43
9.	"Interlude"	DJ Lethal	0:46
10.	"Same as It Ever Was"	DJ Muggs	3:27
11.	"It Ain't a Crime"	DJ Muggs DJ Lethal	3:27
12.	"Where I'm From"	DJ Lethal	4:01
13.	"Still Got a Lotta Love" ("All My Love" Part 2)	DJ Lethal	2:53
14.	"Who's the Man?"	DJ Lethal	4:03
15.	"On Point" (Lethal Dose Remix)	DJ Lethal	3:33
Total length:			49:24

Personnel

• Eric Francis Schrody – vocals (tracks 1–2, 4–8, 10–15), mixing (tracks 12, 14)
• Daniel O’Connor – vocals (tracks 2, 4, 10, 14–15), art direction
• Leor Dimant – vocals (tracks 4, 15), production (tracks 2–4, 9, 11–15), mixing (tracks 3, 9, 12, 14, 15)
• Lawrence Muggerud – executive production, production (tracks 1, 5–6, 8, 10–11), mixing (tracks 1–2, 4–6, 8, 10–11, 13, 15)
• Joseph Kirkland – vocals, production and mixing (track 7)
• Nick Vidal – production (track 1)
• Eric Vidal – production (track 1)
• Tom Coyne – mastering
• Jason Roberts – engineering
• Erwin Gorostiza – art direction
• Butch Belair – photography
• Ron Jaramillo – design
• Kenton Parker – logo design

Charts

Chart (1994)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[15]	97
U.S. Billboard 200[16]	12
U.S. Billboard Top Current Albums[17]	12
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[18]	12
U.S. Billboard Top Album Sales[19]	12
U.S. Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Album Sales[20]	12

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[21]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "House of Pain - Chart history | Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
2. Love, Andrew (August 8, 1994). "Latest release is full-blown Pain". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
3. Henderson, Alex. "Same as It Ever Was - House of Pain | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
4. Christgau, Robert (2000). Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-24560-2.
5. Ehrlich, Dimitri (July 8, 1994). "Same as It Ever Was". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
6. Udo, Tommy (July 16, 1994). Dee, Johnny (ed.). "Long Play". NME. p. 37. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
7. Juon, Steve 'Flash' (August 9, 2022). "House of Pain :: Same as It Ever Was – RapReviews". www.rapreviews.com. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
8. "House of Pain - Same As It Ever Was (album review) | Sputnikmusic". Sputnikmusic. January 15, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
9. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 396. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
10. Hull, Tom. "Grade List: House of Pain". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
11. "Gold & Platinum - RIAA". RIAA. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
12. Watts, Ted (September 8, 1994). "Ted Watts review". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
13. Considine, J.D. (July 8, 1994). "House of Pain the 'Same,' over and over". The Baltimore Sun. pp. Maryland Live 5.
14. Catlin, Roger (July 14, 1994). "Same as It Ever Was". Hartford Courant. pp. Entertainment Guide 4 - 5.
15. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 132.
16. "House of Pain Chart History | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
17. "House of Pain Chart History | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
18. "House of Pain Chart History | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
19. "House of Pain Chart History | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
20. "House of Pain Chart History | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
21. "American album certifications – House of Pain – Same as It Ever Was". Recording Industry Association of America.