I find EA Sports games tend to be solid rather than spectacular.
Of course, if you're going to be spending money on a game, you could do worse than buying something that's certain to offer solid gameplay.
It does depend a little on the game. I would consider FIFA 12 spectacular just because of how deep it can get without actually getting
complicated. It's not an easy game to jump into (it's major failing; the PES series does a much better job of this), but after a little control familiarization, anyone can play just like they were watching a decent MLS game, and really good players can pull off some truly intense Premiere League/UEFA championships-level games.
NHL is similar. The interface isn't as polished, and it's a little feature light, but it's quick and easy to get into and have a great time.
Madden definitely falls into the category of too complicated for me. They pretty much buried the actual gameplay in stats. I understand why folks like it, that's cool, but I feel like Madden has too much gameplanning and not enough actual game. But that's just me.