| Age of Consent | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Virgin Steele |
| Cover: | Virgin Steele age of consent.jpg |
| Released: | October 11, 1988 |
| Recorded: | December 1987 – July 1988 |
| Studio: | BearTracks Studios, Suffern, New York, Sonic Sound and Studio 3973, Freeport, New York |
| Genre: | Heavy metal |
| Length: | 47:59 |
| Label: | Maze Music |
| Producer: | Chris Bubacz and David DeFeis |
| Prev Title: | Noble Savage |
| Prev Year: | 1986 |
| Next Title: | Life Among the Ruins |
| Next Year: | 1993 |
Age of Consent is the fourth full-length album by the American heavy metal band Virgin Steele. The album took eight months to complete, a change from Noble Savage which was recorded in only a few weeks, and was finally released in October 1988. It received scarce promotion and distribution by their small label, resulting in very low sales. The songs of this album follow in style and content the music of the previous album Noble Savage, adding a more polished sound and production.[1] At the time of release, the band faced legal and financial setbacks that brought to the unofficial disbandment of Virgin Steele.[2] Joe O'Reilly, although credited for playing bass on the album, was ill at the time of recording and was ghosted by DeFeis and Pursino.
The album was reissued on CD in 1997 by Noise Records, with a new song listing, a new cover and many bonus tracks. In November 2011 Age of Consent was once again reissued by Steamhammer Records, a subsidiary of SPV, with the same track list as the 1997 release, but with an added bonus CD (named Under the Graveyard Moon) containing 7 additional tracks.[3]
All lyrics by David DeFeis except "Stay on Top", "Desert Plains", "Screaming for Vengeance", "Breach of Lease", and "Down by the River"