When it came to the promotion, PVs, live performances, etc. the Rika/Miki/Konno versions of CM were all about them and the CM girls were completely secondary. If you check out the single covers you'll find them at the front and center. It's good they made the album all about the CM girls rather than the "support members" that pretty much took over the group.
Okay, I've had some time to think about this and there's an ethic at work here that seems kind of strange to me but may be rather commendable--if I'm reading it correctly. The idea seems to be to "make the album all about the CM girls rather than the 'support members'" as a way of compensating the CM girls because Rika/Miki/Konno got all the attention in the promos, PVs, live performances, etc. If that was done to make nice to the CM girls, I can't argue with it at all from an ethical standpoint. It's good when management does
anything helpful for the girls. But from a business standpoint, it doesn't really make much sense, given what I presume is the greater popularity of Rika and Miki. And since Country Musume is no more, maybe it wasn't such a good strategy after all. (Although it probably made no difference whatsoever in the long run.)
Sorry to mull over ancient promotional strategies for a long-forgotten album. I'm just trying to understand the philosophy behind decisions made by the powers-that-be in that organization.