Nobody built a haunted house out of rock and roll quite like Alice Cooper, and four of his most theatrical songs arrive on Rocksmith+ for spooky season: "Cold Ethyl", "Steven", "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "I Love the Dead", with bass, lead guitar, rhythm guitar and piano parts, plus a chord chart on every track. Better still, all four are free to play from October 9 at 7:00 AM PST to October 12 at 7:00 AM PST, on PC, PlayStation, iOS and Android, with no subscription needed to plug in.
The four songs catch Cooper at two very different points of the same career. "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "I Love the Dead" come from 1973's Billion Dollar Babies, the album that topped the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom and turned a shock act into the biggest band in rock. Cooper wrote "No More Mr. Nice Guy" with guitarist Michael Bruce as a reply to the people closest to him, the friends and the churchgoing circle around his mother who had run out of patience with the stage show. It is a song about being told to tone it down, and answering by doing the opposite.
Two years later came Welcome to My Nightmare, Cooper's first solo album and a proper concept record, produced by Bob Ezrin, whose songs run in sequence as a journey through the nightmares of a child named Steven. "Cold Ethyl", co-written by Cooper and Ezrin, and "Steven", named for the boy at the centre of it, both belong to that story, which is why they play less like singles than like scenes. For anyone learning them, the practical payoff is the piano: three of these four songs carry an authentic piano arrangement, which is unusual for a set this heavy and makes them a rare thing to learn at a keyboard rather than a fretboard.
Alice Cooper: 4 New Songs, 17 Authentic Arrangements
- Alice Cooper - Cold Ethyl - Bass, Lead, Piano, Chord Chart
- Alice Cooper - Steven - Bass, Lead, Piano, Chord Chart
- Alice Cooper - No More Mr. Nice Guy - Bass, Lead, Rhythm, Chord Chart
- Alice Cooper - I Love the Dead - Bass, Lead, Rhythm, Piano, Chord Chart
Free to Play: October 9 to October 12
All four songs are free to play from October 9 at 7:00 AM PST to October 12 at 7:00 AM PST, on PC, PlayStation, iOS and Android. No subscription, no trial to start: pick up a guitar, a bass or a keyboard and play the whole set for three days.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Alice Cooper free weekend on Rocksmith+? It runs from October 9 at 7:00 AM PST to October 12 at 7:00 AM PST. Both the start and the end are at 7:00 AM PST.
Which Alice Cooper songs are free? All four of the new additions: "Cold Ethyl", "Steven", "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "I Love the Dead".
Can I learn Alice Cooper songs on piano in Rocksmith+? Yes. "Cold Ethyl", "Steven" and "I Love the Dead" all come with piano arrangements alongside their guitar and bass parts.
Which albums are these Alice Cooper songs from? "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and "I Love the Dead" are from 1973's Billion Dollar Babies. "Cold Ethyl" and "Steven" are from Welcome to My Nightmare, the 1975 concept album produced by Bob Ezrin.
What platforms is the free weekend available on? PC, PlayStation, iOS and Android.
What is Rocksmith+? Rocksmith+ is Ubisoft's interactive music learning platform for guitar, bass and piano. Songs are arranged note for note from the original recordings, and the app follows what you play in real time as you learn.
Song Availability May Vary by Region
Everyone can try Rocksmith+ for free by either downloading the mobile app for iOS and Android, or by downloading it on PS5, PS4, or PC. New mobile users can also try a free 7-day trial with all songs & lessons included when they sign up for a 12-month subscription. Check out the full song library for more songs from your favorite artists. Rocksmith+ is available on PC through the Ubisoft Store. For more on Rocksmith+, check out the official site.
