I see you're a PS3 owner so I can understand where you're coming from (for I do not believe you guys had custom soundtracks last year). I took a look at the Madden soundtrack and noticed it was largely all songs that, as you put it, are vital to getting an NFL experience. They're songs we'd hear on the PA system at every single football game we ever attended.
Personally, and this is where the ability to have custom soundtracks comes in, my brain would fall out of my skull if I heard all those songs (which I've all heard over 200,323 times before already) during the main menus of my video gaming experience. I do believe they fit nicely into the NFL in-game atmosphere but the NBA2K custom in-game arena music allows us to do the same thing but without subjecting ourselves to Crazy Train and Thunderstruck over and over in the menu screens. Here's hoping PS3 is equipped with custom arena music this year so we both win.
The new music 2K provides keeps things fresh for me.