i feel yall on this... jazz and some funky jam deals i'm into but house and techno are tough to listen to unless aided by some unnatural substance

I actually think that i have an aversion to music with lyrics, as opposed to vocals, which can be very instrumental and non-lyrical in their own right. There are definitely exceptions, but i think instrumental music, as Janzoon was getting at, really allows me to connect both to what I may be feeling at the moment and the core of what inspired the musician who created the piece.

I'm one of the few people who will agree with you on this. I have a really hard time getting into instrumental music too. Maybe it's because of my age, I don't know. Occasionally I'll listen to some jazzy stuff but I don't actually have any instrumental music on my iPod.

Not at all as long as its a strat on lead with just a bass and drums along with it. Playing a sad tune of some sorts or just an interesting not so bland piece. Like Srv's version of little wing or Zack Rosicka's version of while we cry.

I'm pretty sure the first instrumental songs that made me appreciate music without vocals were these two:

I don't really have a hard time getting into instrumental stuff. Except for a big section of Prog rock though, which is heavily instrumental. So sure, put me in the instrumental category.

I didnt have too hard a time getting into instrumentals. But it does depend on the genre as well, death or black metal songs for example I'd not want to lose the vocals from, because in that sort of music the vocals are a vital mix that give the song the desired atmosphere.

Whereas in stuff like hip hop, reggae, dancehall, DnB, dubstep, garage, house or whatever else, I actually like listening to the beat on its own without the rapping because alot of the time its the beat I listen to first, then the flow over the beat, and finally lyrics (and as such, poor lyrical content would not make me dislike a song if they reached my criteria for the first two categories).

I'm the same way.

I have to re-listen to songs to hear what they say in the lyrics because I miss them a majority of the time.

No, not at all. Sometimes I love the music I hear and I am really bothered by awful vocals. I like Jazz, I like dub, I like stoner rock, these genres do have a lot of instrumentals.
I even prefer all three of them without vocals. Having said that, I dislike Jazz with vocals alltogether.

I've always been a fan of instrumental music, really. I'm not a fan of shit musical interludes on albums from bands who aren't really all that technically proficient, but music sans vocals certainly has the capacity to blow my mind. Which it does quite frequently.

Like others have said, instrumental music allows a connection with the music itself. I don't see it as being bogged down by words which you may or may not be able to relate to, so it can evoke more specific emotions than many songs featuring lyrics. You may not be able to relate to lyrics from Bright Eyes or Elliott Smith completely, but listening to a popular classical piece such as Beethoven's Fur Elise does allow for a very personal connection with the more melancholy soundscape.