THEPRODIGY.DK
The Prodigy Website Archive
WHAT'S THIS?
Here you will find (amongst other things) an archive of the UK band The Prodigy's old official websites. Not only have The Prodigy made a lot of awesome music, but their their old websites were awesome too, and even though these websites seem antiquated today, the world wide web of the early 00s was something special no matter if you are/were into The Prodigy or not. There was no shortage of animations, sound effects, music, identity and attitude, compared to the bland social media profiles that makes up most online presences today. Most of the old websites hosted here were made by Eugene Riecansky (and his former company Rockstar). Make sure to read about his experience working creatively with the band in the "INTERVIEW" section.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?
The old official The Prodigy websites were made using Macromedia (former MacroMind and later Adobe) Director and Flash, requiring the Shockwave and Flash browser plug-ins. These plug-ins were unstable and a huge security problem, and they were discontinued by all major browsers years ago. For this reason, it is no longer possible to experience the old official websites using your normal browser*.
However ...
You can now download an old school virtual machine that contains an old browser and the old websites in one single package, ready to start up and browse. With a virtual machine, the security and stability problems associated with the old plug-ins and browser will not affect your actual computer.
- Download and install VMware Player 17.5 or later for Linux or Windows (if you do not have it already)**
- Download the virtual machine and unpack it (3.2 GB)
- Start VMware Player, press "Player" (top left) -> "File" -> "Open" and point it to the file "TheProdigy.vmx" that you unzipped in step 2
- Press "Play virtual machine" in VMware player, and wait for the virtual machine to start up
- Open the Firefox browser in the virtual machine and browse the old websites like its the 00s
If you need it, the username in the virtual machine is "liam" and the password is "liam".
The performance of the virtual machine depends on the computer you run it on. I have tested the virtual machine on a Ryzen 7700X, i7 7700K and i3 12100F with 2 cores and 4GB RAM allocated to the virtual machine, and the performance was good. Laptops with low power / low performance CPUs might struggle. You can download the files that were hosted on or embedded in the old websites by clicking here.
The following websites are included in the virtual machine:
- 2002 BGAT beta
- 2002 BGAT
- 2004 AONO
- 2005 TLTS
- 2008 IMD (new and exclusive!)
- 2004 Memphis Bells
- 2004 AONO e-card
*The old version of the website archive with live pages can be found here, including my terrible spelling and questionable art skills. The AONO to TLTS era websites (Flash) can be partially emulated in Chrome and Firefox with the Ruffle add-on. I am not sure if there exists a browser that is old enough to support the Shockwave plug-in (to view the BGAT websites) but new enough to be compatible with TLS 1.3 which this website requires.
**It might be possible to run the virtual machine on Mac using VMware fusion, but I do not own a Mac and have no way of testing it.
ABOUT THEPRODIGY.DK
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the official The Prodigy websites, and I am hosting them only for the purpose of archiving old internet / Prodigy history.
What's the point?
Back in the days before social media apps and news instantly arriving to our pockets, The Prodigy (and most other musicians and bands) used to have very unique and elaborate websites. As a child in the 90s I was very into The Prodigy, and from '98-ish to '04 I was eagerly hoping for a new album to arrive. From time to time I would check their website to see if anything new had come out, and would get lost in the maze of strange pages that made up their website. In these relatively early days of the internet many things were very different. Content was primarily individual websites, rather than profiles on huge corporate platforms, and you had to find the website addresses yourself for instance by trying your luck on the primitive search engines back then like Yahoo or Altavista. Websites rarely send out newsletters, and definitely did not push instant updates into an endlessly scrolling live news feed, so staying up to date often went something like this: you sat alone in your room or the home office/computer room, manually dialled up to the internet (paid per minute), then slowly navigated to the website of interest, and after a substantial loading time you could see if there was anything new. It was a solitary and somewhat tedious task to jump between the same websites over and over again whenever you were online, often without seeing nothing new at all. Instead, many websites of the era aimed at offering something else in return.
Social media profiles all look and work exactly the same, but they let their users get updated and interact instantly with their heroes and other fans/followers. The streamlined ease of use and direct social interactions make up a large part of the value. There were bulletin boards and chat rooms in the 90s and early 00s (The Prodigy website included), but using them was a bit cumbersome and rare due to the per minute cost. The websites of the time however, were very different both in regards to how they looked and how they worked. The old The Prodigy websites are a great example of this, with unique art styles and aesthetics, music and sound effects, downloads (screensavers, demo songs, wallpapers, etc), and interactivity on an almost game-like level. They had style, attitude and identity that matched the band's image and brand, and gave visitors a small Prodigy world to explore and immerse themselves into. Combined with the absence of traditional menu/navigation structures and instead offering hidden pages and untraditional interaction forms, it made for an explorative experience rather than a (sponsored) social experience.
In retrospect I do not think that the old web was better on all parameters, even though I miss the immersive "virtual worlds" aspect. The use of browser plugins like flash, java, shockwave, and so on was horribly slow and full of bugs and security holes, which often caused browsers and computers to crash, or could even infect your computer with virus if you by chance visited a malicious website. To top it off, a large number of the websites that used these technologies did so in a horrendous way that slowed your computer down and made the website very difficult to use. Putting the usability and technical shortcomings aside, it did offer a distinctively different experience compared to today. Even though the web at its core is more or less the same, technology has evolved and user preferences/expectations shifted. Modern browsers with WebGL, fast JavaScript engines, Web Audio API and so forth can technically do what the old plugins did and much more. But even though the technology is vastly more efficient and secure, this type of web experience is very rare today. Offering visitors a downloads section could be a major attraction point in the past, whereas many people today would barely know what such things are or be even slightly interested. I enjoyed many aspects of the "old web" a lot, however esoteric it could seem at times, so when the AONO website replaced the BGAT era website in 2004, I tried to save as many of the files as I could before it all went away. The old official prodigy forum (phpBB) kept being hosted on the old web server for some time, and by guessing the file names I could reconstruct most of it. I even found a beta version of the website, though it is only partial. Flash and Shockwave websites were pretty difficult to scrape automatically, which is why even archive.org does not have complete versions. Around the same time, in order to have a cool "Prodigy"'ish email address, I bought the domain theprodigy.dk, and at some point in time I got the idea to use the domain for something semi-useful and uploaded the website archive.
The result, this website, is rather niche and limited in scope by its Prodigy theme, but serves as a good example of what the web used to be, and gives some insight into what it was like to be an online fan of a band circa 2000-2010. Back when papers with words and photos printed on them were a mainstream news source, and everyone was still figuring out what to do with the internet and whether they wanted to use it or not. While artistic flash websites were common in the '00s, Eugene Riecansky (who made most of the Prodigy websites at the time) deserves praise for how he transformed "dry" information into coherent designs and immersive experiences better than most other web designers - the main reason why the old Prodigy websites are great and entertaining even today.
2025 INTERVIEW WITH EUGENE RIECANSKY
Eugene Riecansky, the creative wizard behind the most legendary Prodigy websites as well as several record sleeves, music videos, and so forth, was kind enough to do an interview with TheProdigy.dk to talk about some of his work. He has worked with several top bands and artists throughout his career with everything from enhanced CDs to 3D animated music videos. Like gangsters in need who call Mr Wolf to clean up a crime scene, musicians call Eugene to craft their visual appearance. From 1999 to 2019 he ran the company Rockstar, and since then he has worked for Pixar along with occasional freelance projects.
Part 1: Web design in general
Many popular websites in the late 90s and early 00s had very unique and immersive designs, rather than streamlined access to information and collections of links. Even in light of that, the Prodigy websites you made takes immersion and mystique to the next level. What inspired you?
I started my career working for a pioneering company in Cambridge called EXP. We basically invented the interactive CD-ROM back in the early 90's. The concept was that you could mix audio and computer data on the same CD, so you could buy an album and listen to it in your normal cd player, but put that same disc into DVD player and you could read the lyrics, watch videos, see interviews etc. We worked with the likes of The Shamen, The Orb, Take That and NIN. As everything was so new at that time, we had to push the technology as far as we could and I think this mindset has stayed with me until this day. Always create with others are not. Push yourself and be unique. I used to also play a bunch of computer games that had hidden challenges, codes, messages etc, so this was also a influence. The Prodigy being such an influential band, when I approached them to make their first website, I knew I had to put create something that was pushing boundaries too.
The face of the internet has more or less changed from websites to social media profiles, and websites of today work and look somewhat the same. What are your thoughts on the modern web and web design?
One word ... Boring. It seems that when we the slowest of internet speed, the internet was more creative. Now you have infinite speed, everyone has lost their ideas and creativity and just follows the same rules and design. It's a shame. when I started making websites, you had to put limits on what you could create. Only viewable in a certain number of colors, monitor size, download speed etc, but now when there are no limits everyone has either forgotten or too scared to be different. I made a website for The Sugababes in 2000. It was 1.2 mb to download and because people had to wait maybe a minute or 2 for the website to load, I put a game of spaceinvaders at the beginning so they had something to do whilst they waited.
I never asked you or anyone else if it's OK to preserve these old Prodigy websites. Late, but can I ask for permission from you now?
Please, yes. It's amazing that you've done it. I've either lost the sites or not able to view them, so it's great you still have them. Well done
Part 2: Baby's Got a Temper
This was a style I was really into at the time. Photo bashing and mixing it was 3d elements. The Policeman is from a photo taken by Jimmy and the rest is either a photo or made in 3D. The phonebox (I presume that's what it is!) was made in Maya and so were the spikey tentacles. I think it was then all put together in MacroMind director. I feel like the idea was that it was some sort of virus that was coming out of the phonebox and spreading to different parts of the website, but I forget now.
Background info: MacroMind (Later Macromedia and later again acquired by Adobe) made several web oriented software packages that were very popular in the 90s and early 00s. Among them were Director, which content could be embedded in websites and viewed by installing the "Shockwave player" browser plug-in, and Flash which content also could be embedded but was viewed with a separate "Flash player" browser plug-in. Confusingly, Macromedia referred to both technologies as "Shockwave" in the beginning, as Shockwave Director and Shockwave Flash. Both Flash and Director could also create executable files, which was often used to create promotional e-cards, mini-games and screensavers, which could be offered as download or on enhanced CDs (the BGAT CD single for example). In mid 00s, Flash became more widely used than Shockwave, due to Flash being easier to use, produced smaller files, and Macromedia pushing for its Flash Player to be pre-installed on computers and in browsers. Shockwave was however more capable, offering for instance hardware accelerated 3D graphics as seen in the BGAT websites.
According to memory and archive.org, do correct me if I'm wrong, the version of the "Baby's got a temper" website seen above was never public on theprodigy.com and some pages are unfinished. It does not seem to have the missile/gun theme of the later version. Can you tell anything about it?
Hmmm ... to be honest, I can't really remember. I forget the first site I pitched to them when I delivered the 7ft Missile to Maxim's house.
The "Baby's got a temper" single was released in 2002. Do you remember if you made the website before or after the single release? Like, was your "missile" pitch made for the track or unrelated?
I think I must have made it around the same time. I made so many versions and ideas around that time for them that I forget what was used when and what you've just found hidden around and never released! Do you mean the 7ft Missle I delivered ? If so, that missile pitch was purely to get In the door and show them what we could do. What was on that DVD in the warhead, I'm not super sure, but I feel like it was the BGAT / virus stuff, but I could be wrong.
On the website there is a page named "Lock & Load" where the password "824965371" must be entered. On the page it says "Have your 9 digit code ready" and in the actual code the variable name is "phoneNumber", but too short to be a regular UK number. When entered, the only thing that happens is a text appearing saying "keep this code for later". What was the plan for this page?
Ha. I have no idea ! I presume it would have been for some limited download access. I was trying at the time to organise a remix competition where Liam gave away some stems for a tune and people could download and remix them, but I don't think that ever happened. So, I think it would have been something like that. Maybe it was inspired by the idea of having to type in a code to launch a missile.
There are two other pages that cannot be opened titled "Locked" and "?". Do you remember what was supposed to be there?
Nope, sorry. It might have just been nothing more than to get fans intrigued. No really intention, just luring you in.
Part 3: Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned
This one was all inspired by the artwork from Big Active. I remember getting the original photoshop layered file to the artwork and being able to re-use anything I wanted from it. It's one of my favorite styles this and one I still do today. The leather came from an idea I pitched to them about having badges on a leather jacket (which I think they ran off with and did a sleeve cover with) I'd also made a personal rock-star.co.uk website around that time using a peep show theme, so I think the leather came from there too. I feel like this is my favorite sites I made for them. Internet speeds were getting faster and I was getting better at coding. I feel like after this site, people started to think about webdesign a little differently and that then started all the nonsense of record companies treating artist websites like online shops. This might have been the last of the good Prodigy websites that I was completely free to do whatever I liked with.
I presume the band asked you to make a this one, since they were happy with the previous website. How did you get involved again?
Well, I always stayed in contact with them. I was doing stuff with Maxim like helping him with his personal music projects. Videos, sleeves, artworks etc.
The website uses Flash instead of Shockwave (Director). Flash was more widely used, but were there other reasons for the change?
Erm, I don't think so. I just think director was becoming less used and perhaps Flash came pre-installed in browsers so it meant that it was easier for people to see a website. They didn't have to go off and download a plugin just to visit a site ... ahh ... the good old days. Director, in my mind, was way better than flash. I didn't like using vector stuff that I feel like Flash encouraged you to do.
Did you enjoy working with Director and Flash?
Yeah, I loved it. Everything was exciting at that time. Everything was new and artists were having to work hard to push the limits. Now, it's all too easy and that's enouraged creative laziness.
The website included a page for a "Girls" remix competition that never happened. Who's idea was it to have the competition and do you know why it never materialized?
Ah ... Yeah .. so this was what I mentioned earlier. I think the idea for a remix comp came sooner than Girls, but this might have been the first time it was shown. Not sure what happened. I guess it must have been an idea I pitched to Liam which he thought was a good idea at the time and then something must have changed. Either he got too busy or changed his mind.
Did you ever try to follow up on some of the "lose ends" like the Girls remix competition and the previous website's missing pages back then?
Nope. I'm like a fast moving train. Once I've done something, I never go back.
Part 4: Their Law - The Singles
I think the design of that site was something I was really into at that time. Heraldry. I would scan in loads of pieces from books and use those. The past - preset - future thing is something I'd used for a while at the time and still do. It's a story device that really works nicely. The clock was inspired by a website I'd made for Vivienne Westwood a few year previous where you could go back or forward in time by rotating the hands to see different times in the band's history. These days, you'd just have a boring NEXT button.
Fans found this website before it was supposed to be public because the launcher page used the same URL / file name as the AONO website. Liam addressed it in an interview saying the website "got hacked". Was the invention of that story "damage control" coming from you? :)
no comment ;-)
This is the last website you made for The Prodigy, but you still made music videos for them. Is it around this time where you changed your focus towards video and 3D rendering?
Personally, I just think my time making their websites had come to an end. I got a call from their Manager at the time saying they were making a new website and going with a different company. It was downhill from there for their websites ! lol. just kidding. But it does go to show the shift in how people thought about websites. It became about selling merch, tickets and ease of use and access. The downfall of the internet had begun! ha. My aim with websites was always a way into a band to make music videos and animation.
Part 5: Working With The Prodigy
From your interviews I understand that you are a fan of The Prodigy and this is what drove you, but what was it like to work with the band creatively?
Yeah, I was always a fan of the band and one that I thought I could really make exciting stuff with. I hunted them down initially. They were (and still are) good friends and I really enjoyed my time working with them. To be honest, my art style and ethos fitted with theirs, so it was a pretty easy working with them. I don't remember anything I made that they didn't really like. They would give feedback or ideas but never hated something. I think I just got them and their style, so I was a visual extension of that.
What kind of feedback or ideas would the band give you?
Not too sure. But it was always pretty relaxed.
Did you work with them directly or was it via Theresa [the band's manager]?
Mainly through Theresa but over time, I would link up with Maxim and Liam directly.
How would the content like sound, graphics, and so forth be provided to you?
Either physical design which I would scan or via emails. I remember going to Maxim's house and him getting out loads of items which I could photograph or scan. I also went to Liam's and Keith's houses to capture a load of stuff too.
How much of it was given to you and how much could you add or create yourself? How much creative freedom did you have?
I'd say a bit of both. I feel like the initial style would come from me or be driven by a sleeve or release and then I would run with that and evolve it.
Who called the shots?
Liam.
Did you design and program the websites alone or were other people involved? What was your role?
It was mainly myself and a friend who made the Prodigy websites. I was the main one doing the design and coding but I'd discuss ideas with him on what we could or should do.
Did you work together with other artists, like for instance Jimmy Turrell, or was it more isolated?
Jimmy was only around for the first stuff. After that It was mainly just me and the band.
In addition to the websites, you made some music videos, the DVDs for Their Law and Baby's got a temper, and stage art, but were there other things?
Erm. I feel like I did design some merch, but I forget which ones. Perhaps I just offered up ideas.
Do you still have a copy of the DVD with your original missile pitch?
I don't have the original DVD or missile. I asked Maxim recently what happened to it. He said he binned it. Cheers! I do have some stuff left. I have a test piece of the original missile and some DVD's sent from the band. I did some behind the scenes filming too.
Eugene has worked with Maxim on several solo projects throughout the years, like this video and the "Prey 4 Angels" website (2005).
Are you in touch with the band today?
Yup. The last main thing I did was some tour visuals which they use today. I did the Light Up The Sky video I still work with Maxim to this day but mainly on his personal art projects. The grenades are mine and a bunch of other stuff. We still chat most weeks and collab on art together. It goes through phases. One thing I feel proud of is that I helped show fans a little bit of the bands history and archive by making sure I photographed and scanned old tapes, artwork, photos etc.
Got a random interesting story from working with The Prodigy?
I remember getting that first call from Liam after they got back from tour and I'd just delivered the missile. He called me and said it's Liam here. I said who and he repeated, "It's Liam!". I thought it was someone else mucking around. He said "It's me and you'd better believe it or you're going to look like a fool". I panicked and wrote on a bit of paper to my friend sitting next to me ... I wrote .. "It's Liam !!". I wasn't expecting his call but glad I calmed down ... that's how it all began.
Part 6: Rockstar and You
Around 2004-2006, the website for your company rock-star.co.uk was aesthetically similar to The Prodigy's website with black leather and pink. Who inspired who or did it go both ways?
Mine was first I think. I think the leather and pink was my idea as I'd already been using it for a while. I'm sure the leather jacket is a scan of my wife's!
If you don't mind me asking, why did Rockstar close down?
It just came to an end. I've not spoken about this before, but it turned into a company where I had to be a boss. I didn't enjoy that and had to get back to what I do best. Being creative ... not running a small studio and having to manage people. I loved Rockstar and it's time and I hope that in a way, it's left a small piece of inspiration out there in the world for the work it did. Life has chapters ... Rockstar was a huge chapter from 1999 to 2019 but now it's time for a new chapter. I now work at Pixar.
From enhanced CDs, to websites, music videos, and now Pixar, you have quite an eventful creative career. Can you tell something about what your passion is and how it drives you?
My passion has always been to create unique and punchy design, inspired by my youth and a time where design was much more analog and hand made. Letraset type, faxed paper grunge etc. Using old software in today's world to make unique art. Do things differently. Today, it's so easy to make art that people have forgotten the old tricks of making grunge, old VHS grit etc. I still live in that old world of design.
What are you currently working on professionally?
I now work at Pixar, which was a childhood dream of mine. I was always into computer graphics and everything I really did always had some element of 3D to it. Once Rockstar finished, I was thinking of starting my own design school which I developed quite far, but that quickly turned back into another company style setup, so I approached Pixar, asked them for a job and here I am now.
If you could choose to do anything today without considering the business part of it, would you rather make enhanced cds, websites, 3D, poetry, or something else?
I'd be an artist.
Do you engage in any other creative endeavours or hobbies?
I make personal art which one day I'd like to exhibit.
What music do you listen to now?
I have a few. I wake quite often at 3am, so I always get up and work listening to The Orb. Other than that, Radiohead, The Cure, The Smiths, Fontaines DC, Idles, The Smile and when I need a boost ... The Prodigy.
Even back in 2004-ish when I first had, or attempted, some sparse contact with you (you took care of the Prodigy forum for instance), you were just as hard to get a hold of as you are now 20 years later :) Do you ever sleep?
Ha ... I'm trying to, but I have an overactive creative mind that always wants to keep thinking and creating. I'd rather be up creating something than lying there thinking of it. But, it's a struggle to keep my mind calm and content.
Anything you would like to tell or closing comments?
I'd say thanks to you for archiving all this stuff. I didn't think at the time to really look after it or keep it for the future, but I'm glad you've archived and documented it. Perhaps someone will find it inspirational and influence their design style. I would also say, and this is me being older, that social media is not always good for creativity. There is such a temptation to see something that someone else is making and think "I'll just make that". I feel like having access to everything is stifling creativity and makes you think less about what you actually want to make. Find your own unique source of creative inspiration rather than what others are doing. That's how to stand out and be unique. Don't Instagram someone you wanna work with ... make them a 7ft missile.