(This article covers the 1988 Hawkwind compilation album. For the Hawkwind song of the same name see "Spirit of the Age") Spirit of the Age is a 1988 compilation album by the British space rock group Hawkwind covering their Charisma Records period 1976–1979. It was issued by Virgin Records after they had acquired the Charisma catalogue, to test whether there was a viable market for the Hawkwind albums included in the deal. There was, and the company then re-issued each of the four albums the following year as part of the Compact price series.