I don't think it's "widely" considered the greatest album of all time. It's definitely NOT better than Enter the 36 or Nation of Millions. . It's barely the best album of 94. Personally, a lot of hip hop heads would say Sun Rises in the East was the better album with better beats and a wide range of topics. I'm not saying Illmatic was bad because it's definitely a classic 10/10 album, but college radio was fukking with Sun Rises... heavier than Illmatic at the time in 94 and mainstream wasn't fukking with either of them.