He should release that Sydney live version...

I dont think it's "laziness" that stops Slash doing epics, he's an AC/DC type writer...3-4 minutes of balls to the wall rock and that's it.
Personally, I think that limits him but it seems to be his modus.
The man is not lazy..his Conspirators career is all him, the album, the distribution deal, the interviews, the 360 filming of his gigs, the twitter updates, the competitions etc...
Even in his GNR downtime skag daze he was flying all over the place to play gigs.
The epics debate is about personal taste, not work ethic.

Slash should play with guys like Jerry Cantrell to broaden out his pallet a bit, but he's from the Angus Young / Rory Gallagher school of rock and that means sticking to what you feel you do best.
I'd like more and got a glimpse on "Watch This" but I'm not holding out for a d-tuned epic full of crazy guitar sounds any time soon.

I personally LOVE that mash up also. For what it is, it sounds so promising,...its the only Axl & Slash I can get these days so I'll take it.
Can't find and Apocolyptic Love / CD mash ups anywhere.. good for curiousity value..

Slash not interested in "epics"?
Sir, I give you one word..."COMA".

I think Slash has some sort of issue with ballads, not epics. I cannot say I blame him..he gave his heart and soul to Estranged, Breakdown, NV and Don't Cry ..epic ballad style tunes he filled with such thought, craft and a beauty that its completely fair and balanced to say that they took Axl's tunes to an entireky new level..no orchestra required.

If you read what Matt was saying about the end of days for the band, it was the full time presence of the piano that seemed to be pissing them all off. If I was in GNR at that time and thought that our next album was going to be 10 eight minute piano epics about Steph Seymour which would probably take five years to finish and we had no choice but to accept this as everything i wrote was being rejected, then I'd be a dick too.

As you said, its about balance. I've said it before, I see Slash in  the pipe cleaner jeans and the backwards baseball hats at 47 year old...writing songs like "We're all gonna Die" and "One last Thrill" and I just want to take the dude aside and ask him to drop the goofball rock act. He could strive to be so much more sophisticated, more current and grown up. I point to Dave Grohl as the perfect example of the man that never changed but grew up properly at the same time.

BUT, he more than met Axl half way in is UYI songs and it was wrong of Axl to see GNR then as his vision, and his vision alone. Slash leaving and Axls vision failing to materialise is what Axl hates Slash the most for. He said as much with his comment on a decade long writers block. What he doesn't seem able to admit was that he didn't have writers block, he had lots of material but none of his old team to bring it over the line.