Virus (Iron Maiden song)

"Virus"
Single by Iron Maiden
from the album Best of the Beast
B-side
  • "My Generation"
  • "Doctor Doctor"
  • "Prowler"
  • "Invasion"
  • "Sanctuary"
  • "Wrathchild"
Released2 September 1996
RecordedSummer 1996
GenreHeavy metal
Length6:14
3:54 (short version)
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Blaze Bayley, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, Steve Harris
Iron Maiden singles chronology
"Lord of the Flies"
(1996)
"Virus"
(1996)
"The Angel and the Gambler"
(1998)
CD 2 cover
CD 1 cover

"Virus" is a single from Iron Maiden, released in 1996. It is the first single since 1980's "Women in Uniform" that does not appear on any official Iron Maiden studio album. It was, however, featured as a brand new track on the band's first ever career retrospective – 1996's double-disc Best of the Beast. It is the only Iron Maiden song to be credited to both of the band's guitarists. It has never been performed live by Iron Maiden, but Blaze Bayley performed it several times in his solo career. Lyrically, the song warns of rising business and government corruption in an increasingly Internet-dependent world.[citation needed]