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.
In 1992, Virgin wished to include a new Hawkwind compilation, Tales from Atom Henge: The Robert Calvert Years, as part of their Virgin Universal series. The band's fan club editor, Brian Tawn, was approached to compile this new release, but chose to replicate the original compilation album with the exception of two changes: the addition of the previously hard to find single B-sides "Honky Dorky" and "The Dream of Isis", and the omission of "The Forge of Vulcan" in order to make space.
